Ari Halberstam

On March 1, 1994, on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, Lebanese-born immigrant Rashid Baz shot at a van of 15 Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish students that was traveling on the Brooklyn Bridge, killing one and injuring three others.

In the attack, Baz shot at a van of 15 Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish students that was traveling on the Brooklyn Bridge. He used a Cobray MAC-11 fully automatic pistol to strafe the van, and a Glock 17 9mm semi-automatic pistol to shoot at students. He also had a 12-gauge Armsel Striker shotgun in his trunk.

Four students were shot. The two most seriously wounded included Ari Halberstam, a sixteen-year-old, who died four days later from a shot to the head. The other student, also shot in the head, suffered permanent major speech impediments.

Amir Abudaif, an auto mechanic, reported the incident to the police. During the arrest, Baz was also found to be in possession of anti-Jewish literature, a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol, a stun gun, a bulletproof vest, and two 50-round ammunition magazines. Initially, Baz claimed a traffic dispute led him to commit the shootings, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation initially classified the case as road rage. However, at the trial, Baz pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His defense team also offered the theory that Baz was reacting to events in the Middle East. The jury rejected both defenses, and Baz was convicted of second degree murder and 14 additional counts of attempted murder in New York Supreme Court on December 1, 1994. He was sentenced to 141 years to life in prison.

The deceased victim, Ari Halberstam, was a yeshiva student. The son of Mrs. Devorah Halberstam and David Halberstam, members of distinguished families associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was raised under the personal supervision of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The Halberstam family had ties to the Rebbe as Ari's father worked as a butler and personal manager to the Rebbe. The Halberstam family also includes a rabbinic dynasty of its own, Bobov, whose first Rebbe was Shlomo Halberstam.