Policeman set on fire, moderately wounded at northern gas station

A police officer was moderately wounded Thursday after being set on fire by a suspect at a gas station in Kiryat Bialik, in northern Israel.

Police were dispatched to the gas station after being alerted to the presence of a man who was threatening to commit suicide. Upon their arrival, the man doused one of the police officers in gasoline and set him alight.

Police said in a statement that two other officers were lightly injured.

The suspect, a 33-year-old from the nearby town of Kiryat Motzkin, fled the scene but was apprehended after a foot chase, police said.

The circumstances of the incident are under investigation.

“The suspect managed to pour gasoline on one of the police officers and set him on fire with a lighter he had in his hand,” said Chief Superintendent Anatoly Shkalyar of the nearby Zevulun police station, according to the Ynet news outlet. “Fortunately, civilians were not injured, but we still find ourselves this morning with three police officers who arrived on duty and ended up in the hospital.”

According to the senior officer, the motive is currently suspected to be criminal, not terror, and the suspect is known to police for previous violent offenses.

At the scene, Magen David Adom medic Ibrahim Ka’abiyye told Channel 12 that the moderately wounded officer was a member of his family: “When I arrived at the scene, I saw a relative of mine suffering from burns to his upper body and two other men lightly hurt.”

“Together with other MDA teams, we provided them with medical treatment and took them to the hospital, with one in moderate condition, with second-degree burns, and two in good condition,” the medic added.

According to Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center, the moderately wounded man was being treated at the hospital’s shock trauma center.