A man inside the Bingo supermarket in Inwood allegedly mimed firing a rifle at customers while screaming antisemitic threats Sunday morning, leaving shoppers shaken before he ran out the door and vanished. Nassau County police are still searching for him.
According to 5 Towns Central, a shopper who witnessed the episode said the man was making gestures as though he were firing a rifle at customers while shouting antisemitic threats. The outlet reported that the man yelled “Free Palestine,” “Kill all the Jews,” “Kill Israel” and “Heil Hitler,” according to the woman who described the scene. She had been shopping with her young daughter at the time and told the outlet she was very shaken from the incident.
5 Towns Central reported that numerous other shoppers came forward with the same story, describing similar behavior from the man inside the store. The outlet said police presence was on the scene, along with the Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol, looking for the suspect and scouring through footage.
Police Scramble After Disturbance Report
Nassau County police were dispatched to the store at approximately 10:37 a.m. Sunday after receiving a report of a disturbance involving a male and a female inside, according to VINnews. The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived. A police public information officer told the outlet, “we are actively pursuing this.”
The same spokesperson said authorities could not confirm additional details because the investigation remained open. That includes whether the suspect was carrying any kind of weapon, whether the antisemitic statements described by witnesses were in fact made, and whether the incident will ultimately be classified as a hate crime. The report left those questions unresolved as the search continued.
Fear Ripples Through the Five Towns
The incident rattled nerves in the heavily Jewish Five Towns area, where news of the confrontation spread quickly among residents already on edge. No arrest had been announced as of Sunday, and the identity of the suspect had not been released.
The episode comes against a backdrop of shifting antisemitism trends statewide. The ADL New York / New Jersey reported 1,160 antisemitic incidents across New York in 2025, a 19% decline from the prior year. But the same report found assaults bucked that trend, rising 10% from 82 in 2024 to 90 in 2025, with New York State accounting for 44% of the 203 antisemitic assaults recorded nationwide. In Suffolk County alone, the organization logged 68 incidents in 2025, up 10% from 62 the year before.
Nationally, the ADL counted 6,274 antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism incidents in 2025, down 33% from 2024 — a drop in overall volume even as the most violent category of incidents climbed in New York. For now, Nassau County investigators say the Bingo case remains open, with no further details confirmed as they continue reviewing footage and pursuing leads.
