2-year-old stabbed to death in front of his mother in Lod; suspect heard ‘voices’
Mayor says detained man is mentally ill; bystanders reportedly pin down attacker until police arrive
A two-year-old boy was stabbed to death in front of his mother in the central city of Lod on Thursday, with the suspect reportedly saying he heard “voices” before committing the crime.
The toddler was taken in critical condition to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center with knife wounds to his head. Doctors were unable to save his life and pronounced him dead.
A suspect was arrested in the attack, Israel Police said, and his remand was extended Friday for 13 days. It noted that contrary to an initial assessment, the suspect does not have any familial connection to the victim.
According to reports in the Hebrew media, the suspect also does not have a known background in mental illness but will undergo a professional evaluation.
The public broadcaster Kan reported that the suspect’s parents have tried to hospitalize him due to his deteriorating mental condition, without success.
The toddler was named on Friday as Ilai Kirushin.
He was laid to rest on Friday in Rishon Lezion.
His grandmother eulogized the toddler: “He was a pure soul. He could already speak, and asked me to sing for him. From the beginning of the war, I prayed for the soldiers and read psalms, and at the end my grandson was murdered, a family was destroyed.”
Lod Mayor Yair Ravivo called the incident “a tragedy.”
He described the suspect as “mentally disturbed, who claimed to have heard a mysterious voice speaking to him.”
The man “ran amok towards a baby carriage in the shopping center in the Ganei Aviv neighborhood, and stabbed him to death in front of his mother,” Ravivo said.
A local resident who gave only his first name Moshe to the Walla outlet said he was in a supermarket when he heard shouts.
“I ran outside and saw a man overcoming the suspect, putting a knee on his throat to hold him down,” Moshe said, adding that at first, people thought it was a terror attack and even tried to assault the suspect.
“I saw [the suspect’s] face and I understood it wasn’t an attack,” Moshe said.
He said he could see the toddler with stab wounds lying in his stroller and immediately alerted police and first responders.
“I could see the family of the baby in the area, people crying and collapsing,” Moshe said.
