The gunman who killed two people and wounded seven more in a shooting at a Tel Aviv bar is thought to be a 29-year-old Israeli Arab called Nashat Milhem, according to Israeli media.

Police are still searching for the attacker who targeted the Simta bar on Dizengoff Street in a crowded area of the city centre on Friday.

Milhem’s father has urged security forces to apprehend his son. He contacted authorities after recognising him in TV footage of the attack.

“What is important to me now is that they reach my son and arrest him, because he is still armed,” the Ynet news website quoted him as saying. “And just as he murdered two people, he can murder more.”

He added: “I am worried and I want to hear that he is in police hands.”

He said that his son had psychological issues, while another family member told the Haaretz newspaper that Milhem was “unstable” and had a history of violence.

It is thought that the suspect may have stolen the weapon used in the attack from his father, who is a volunteer police officer.

Milhem was detained by police in 2007 after attacking a soldier with a screwdriver and trying to grab his gun.

During questioning he is believed to have said he wanted revenge for the death of a cousin allegedly killed by police in 2006.