Border guards shoot Palestinian in leg in apparent ‘suicide by cop’ attempt
Police say suspect, later found to be unarmed, didn’t heed calls to stop when she walked toward officers at northern West Bank’s Tapuah Junction
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Border Police officers shot a Palestinian woman in the leg after she ignored calls to stop as she walked toward them, in an apparent attempt to be killed in “suicide by cop” at a northern West Bank junction on Monday, police said.
The border guards were stationed at the Tapuah Junction, a location frequented by both Israelis and Palestinians.
The officers “spotted the suspect approaching them. Despite the officers’ calls [for her to stop], she continued approaching,” police said in a statement.
“The border guards fired into the air, but she was not deterred and continue approaching them suspiciously. Finally, the officers shot her in the lower body and subdued her,” police said.
Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said the woman, who was approximately 40 years old from the Palestinian city of Tulkarem, was searched after she was shot and was found to be unarmed.
“During an initial interrogation, she said she had come to die, apparently because of a family situation,” police said in a statement.
The woman sustained moderate injuries and received first aid at the scene before being taken to Petah Tikva’s Beilinson Hospital for treatment.
Israeli security officials have noted that they believe many Palestinian assailants commit attacks with the goal of being killed, as being shot dead by Israeli soldiers and police officers is considered a more acceptable way to die in Palestinian society than suicide.
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