Palestinian driver rams cops in Jerusalem, is shot dead
Two Border Police officers lightly wounded; alleged attacker said shot after attempting to run them over a second time
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Two Border Police officers were lightly injured in Jerusalem on Wednesday when a Palestinian man veered off the road and hit them with an SUV in what police said was a deliberate attack.
The driver was shot by police and critically wounded after he tried to back up and run over the injured officers again, police said. He was administered first aid at the scene but died shortly thereafter.
The incident occurred at the A-Tur junction in the northeast of the capital, near the Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus and the Mount of Olives.
The injured officers, a man and a woman, were evacuated to the Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus and the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, respectively, for treatment.
Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted that “[the] terrorist [was] neutralized at scene.”
News reports listed the name of the assailant as Amran Abu Dahim, from East Jerusalem.
Several local residents pelted police and rescue services with rocks after the incident.
It was the latest in a string of lone-wolf attacks by Palestinians using their cars to ram pedestrians or police, in a trend that began in Jerusalem in October but has also spread to the West Bank.
Police officers on site of car attack. Investigation continuing. Arab attacker shot by officers responding at scene. pic.twitter.com/lE9xTv7tAu
— Micky Rosenfeld (@MickyRosenfeld) May 20, 2015
BREAKING: Suspected car attack short time ago in Jerusalem, 2 officers lightly injured, suspect neutralized. pic.twitter.com/JuvdQhCGc0
— Israel Breaking (@IsraelBreaking) May 20, 2015
Last week four people were hurt when a Palestinian motorist plowed through a bus stop outside Alon Shvut in the Etzion bloc of settlements. A suspect was arrested a short while later and was handed over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning. He was reported to be a Palestinian resident of Hebron.
On April 25 three policemen were injured in a car-ramming attack in the A-Tur neighborhood, near the site of Wednesday’s incident. Police fired on the vehicle as it sped away. It was later found abandoned, and security forces later apprehended the driver.
Early the same day, a Palestinian teen from A-Tur allegedly attempted to stab a Border Police officer at a nearby checkpoint. A police officer shot the knife-wielding 16-year-old dead.
Times of Israel staff and AFP contributed to this report.