Man killed when misidentified as terrorist in Jerusalem

Initial reports had suggested an assailant boarded bus near entrance to the capital, tried to seize firearm

A ZAKA ambulance at the scene of a shooting in Jerusalem on October 21, 2015. (Screen capture: Channel 2)

A man reportedly boarded a bus near the entrance of Jerusalem Wednesday night and attempted to stab a soldier and seize his gun. It later emerged that the man had apparently been mistaken for a terrorist and shot dead, in a sequence of confusing events.

No other injuries were reported during the incident on Yirmiyahu street, in the city’s Romema neighborhood, according to initial reports.

Conflicting initial reports indicated that the attacker attempted to run over the soldier before exiting the vehicle and trying to stab him.

The incident followed three attacks on soldiers earlier in the day, including a vehicular assault in the West Bank that left five soldiers injured hours earlier, and an incident north of Jerusalem earlier Wednesday in which a female soldier was stabbed and critically injured by a Palestinian man.

Earlier in the day, a man rammed his car into a checkpoint near the settlement of Ofra, injuring a policeman.

Earlier in October, a Palestinian boarded a public bus entering Jerusalem, stabbed a soldier and attempted to steal his firearm, but was shot by police who boarded the vehicle.

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