Efraim Gordon, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Na’ale, was shot and killed on May 3 while visiting Northwest Baltimore for a cousin’s wedding during the holiday of Lag B’Omer. A $30,000 reward is being offered for information about the murder.
Gordon, 31, was found suffering from a gunshot wound by Baltimore Police Department officers at approximately 12:05 a.m. in the 3700 block of Fords Lane, near Park Heights Avenue. He was reportedly shot by three juveniles after driving up to the home of his aunt and uncle, where he was staying.
Gordon was taken by police to a local hospital, where he later died.
Video surveillance from homes in the area shows the three youths approaching Gordon as he left a car and prepared to enter the house. Then, one of the youths shot Gordon.
Police are searching for the suspects. “We believe that was an attempted robbery that turned fatal,” said BPD Commissioner Michael S. Harrison.
Gordon’s family rejected the police’s claim that it was a random crime.
“This was an act of terror, my brother didn’t just die,” his sister, Ella Gordon, said at a press conference in Israel on May 5. “There were no signs of violence, and they didn’t take money. … It was not a robbery that went wrong, but murder due to anti-Semitism. They didn’t take money, just shot him in the stomach and ran off.”
She said neighbors heard the assailants shouting anti-Semitic remarks during the shooting. Ella Gordon said the BPD was not updating her family about the investigation, and she called on state officials to provide more information.
“They murdered my bother. To come and say it was a robbery that went awry is not logical,” she said. “They didn’t take anything, they left the bag, wallet, earphones, watch, the passport, it was all left behind. This was simply a murder because he was Jewish.”
Efraim Gordon reportedly belonged to the Chabad Lubavitch movement and was a technology entrepreneur. On social media, Chabad of Park Heights asked people to light Shabbat candles at nightfall on May 7 in memory of Gordon.
In a joint statement, Baltimore City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer (D-5th) and Del. Dalya Attar (D-41st) said of Gordon’s murder, “We are constantly on a unified front working to fight for the safety of the community. It has been, and continues to be, both our top priorities from day one in office. The community has now suffered the ultimate loss from the horrific violence plaguing this city. Our efforts to ensure the safety of our constituents will not only continue, but will increase. The murderer must be apprehended and prosecuted. Justice must be served. And we must never wake up to anything like this again.”
Gordon was buried May 5 in Israel. By midday Tuesday, an online effort to raise money for his body’s transport to Israel and funeral expenses raised three times the requested amount of $15,000.
In addition to his sister, Gordon is survived by his parents, Boruch and Olga Gordon, and his brother, David Rader.
“He was one of the most positive people to ever exist, always ready to give a helping hand to everyone even to strangers,” Gordon’s’family wrote on the website thechesedfund.com. “He had a heart of gold. … He had his whole life in front of him and it was stolen from him and his family.”
Anyone with information on the murder of Efraim Gordon should call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-8Lockup.
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