Checkpoint commander tells of charging directly at terrorist while firing; Border Police chief: You acted with professionalism and bravery.
By YAAKOV LAPPIN Site of shooting attack at Tapuah junction. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESMAN'S OFFICE)
A Palestinian terrorist armed with a handgun arrived at Tapuah junction, in the northern West Bank, on Monday and opened fire at security forces in the area guarding a checkpoint.Border Police and an IDF soldier who were at the checkpoint stormed the attacker, firing at him as they went. The gunman was killed in the return fire.A Border policeman was slightly wounded in his leg in the gun battle, and paramedics rushed him to the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva, where his condition was said by doctors to be good.The Border Police and IDF sent reinforcements to the area following the attack. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, who was in the area of the attack, arrived at Tapuah junction and spoke to soldiers on the scene minutes after the incident.St.-Sgt. D (full name withheld for security reasons), the checkpoint commander who ran toward the Palestinian gunman and opened fire at him, said the incident began with a report from a passerby.“We received a report from a civilian about a suspect wandering around the hitchhikers post near the checkpoint. I sent a soldier over to investigate the suspect, and I then I saw that he was shooting at us. The Nahal [Brigade] soldier and I stormed the terrorist and neutralized him,” he said.The incident is the second attempted terrorist attack at Tapuah junction within days.Last week, Border Police stopped a suicide bomber who arrived at the checkpoint with 12 pipe bombs linked together by wires.The bomber aroused the suspicions of security personnel due to the heavy clothing he wore in blazing heat and his strange manner of walking.After his arrest, the terrorist was taken for questioning by the Shin Bet (
