Man Seriously Wounded in Yerushalayim Stabbing Attack

A 23-year-old man from Bnei Brak was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack near the Givat Hamivtar light rail station, on Shabbos afternoon.

Large police forces launched a manhunt after the perpetrator, a Palestinian teenager, that ended after about an hour with his capture after he barged into a soccer field near the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

The suspected terrorist, a 16-year-old Arab from Anata who holds Israeli citizenship, escaped the scene but was caught a short while later in the city’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. During the chase, security forces were forced to fire at the suspect, who was then neutralized.

A police officer from the Shalem police station identified the suspect on a neighborhood soccer field, and jumped the fence in order to make contact with the suspect.

At one point, the youth turned towards the police officer while waving part of a knife which had broken earlier. The police officer, who felt his life was in danger, fired at the suspect, neutralizing him.

The victim arrived at Shaare Zedek Medical Center’s trauma unit. According to the hospital, he is in serious but stable condition, and following initial treatment and imaging tests, he was transferred to the operating room.

Doron Turgeman, commander of the Yerushalayim District police force, praised the officer who neutralized the suspect, saying that the officer had been in a vehicle when he identified the young suspect.

“He called to him to stop, but the suspect began to run away,” Turgeman said. “This was a location with a lot of children who were playing, and still the officer acted with professionalism and aimed to make contact.”