Friends and neighbors of the Oshrenko family reacted with shock Saturday to the news that the family of six had been found dead in their home - murdered by an unknown perpetrator.
Neighbors said that the family was a normative one, adding that it mostly kept to itself. Police officials have confirmed that no one in the family had a criminal record.
The dead have been named as Ludmila and Edward Oshrenko, both aged 56, Dimitri and Tatyana Oshrenko, aged 32 and 28, three-year-old Revital Oshrenko, and a three-month old baby, Natanel Oshrenko.
The crime scene was visited by Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov, who knew the family. "I've known them for years," he said, adding that they emigrated to Israel from Russia at the beginning of the 1990s.
Tatyana and Demitri ran a club and restaurant for Russian Israelis, Meseznikov said. "I took part in all their family events, and in the baby's brit mila," he added. "They worked hard to succeed. This is an excellent family with many friends in the city."
Asher, a friend of Edward, also told Channel 2 he had known the family for years. "He was a good man who always smiled," he said of the slain grandfather. "Yesterday evening I saw him and everything was alright. When you hear about something like this in the morning your life suddenly changes. It's a catastrophe."
The murder scene was visited late on Saturday afternoon by Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch. The minister was briefed by police over the latest findings from the investigation. Rishon Lizon Mayor Meir Nitzan and Deputy Mayor Vadim Kirpetchov also came to the scene. Kirpetchov, who also knew the family well, said he was not aware of any serious financial difficulties or feuds in the family. "I'm in shock and it's difficult for me to digest this," he said.
Dozens of neighbors gathered around police lines sealing off the street, as emergency officials loaded body after body into waiting ambulances.
As one corpse was led out of the building, a relative standing on the other side of the street broke down crying. A man attempted to comfort her.
"At 8 a.m. I heard a family was killed in a fire," Avi, a local resident, told The Jerusalem Post.
"Then, an hour later, they said on the radio that they were stabbed. This is a shock. There is a murder every other day. It's become lawless in this country. There is no law," he added.
"This is a good neighborhood, a quiet area," Avi said. "The family owned a delicatessen around the corner from here."
Neighbors all around stood on their balconies looking at the police and press below. Young children from a neighboring Chabad center peered out from over their playground gate towards the murder scene, attempting to make sense of what they were seeing.
Firefighter Itzik Levi summed up his feelings after visiting the scene. "I've been in firefighting for 20 years. Things like this you don't see every day."
