Man thought to be terrorist killed in Jerusalem after assaulting soldiers

Police say person carrying Israeli ID physically attacked two soldiers on bus in capital, tried to seize a firearm

Zaka rescue personnel carry the body of a man shot dead by IDF soldiers in Jerusalem after he was mistaken for a terrorist, on October 21, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
Zaka rescue personnel carry the body of a man shot dead by IDF soldiers in Jerusalem after he was mistaken for a terrorist, on October 21, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Two soldiers shot and killed a man they thought to be a terrorist in Jerusalem Wednesday night, after the man attacked them and tried to grab one of the weapons they were carrying.

According to police, the incident began when two soldiers boarding a bus near the entrance to the capital were asked for identification by an unknown man. When the soldiers, in response, asked the man to identify himself and submit to a search, he began physically assaulting them and tried to seize one of the firearms they were carrying, according to a police account.

The soldiers opened fire on the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man did not have a knife on him, as previously reported. A search on his body revealed an Israeli ID card, and reports indicated he was Jewish. But police said they were still working to identify him.

The incident occurred on Yirmiyahu street, in the city’s Romema neighborhood, and came after another day of attacks against Israelis.

Earlier, a vehicular assault in the West Bank left five soldiers injured hours after a female soldier was stabbed and critically injured by a Palestinian man in Jerusalem

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

The incident comes three days after an Eritrean asylum seeker was mistaken for a terrorist during the terror attack at the Beersheba Central Bus Station in Jerusalem on Sunday night, and was shot by security forces before being severely beaten by a mob.

Haftom Zarhum, 29, died of his wounds later that night. Police said they arrested four people in connection with the beating, which was filmed.

Zarhum’s autopsy ruled he died of gunshot wounds, rather than the vicious beating he received from bystanders.

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