WATCH: Struggle with man in Jerusalem mistaken for terrorist moments before his death
“Police are looking into man's background and why he behaved like this.”
By DANIEL K. EISENBUD, JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: OCTOBER 22, 2015 18:31Struggle with man in Jerusalem mistaken for terrorist moments before his death
A security camera from the scene of the shooting death of a man in Jerusalem on Wednesday night who was mistaken for a terrorist shows the man near the bus he exited and surrounded by civilians and security forces.The video shows the man struggling and being kicked in the middle of the road adjacent to the bus. Shortly after the man was shot dead. The security spot check of the Jewish man behaving erratically outside the capital’s downtown central bus station turned into a deadly shooting when the suspect, believed to be an Arab terrorist, fought two IDF soldier’s and reached for one of their guns.According to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, at approximately 11:30 p.m. the unidentified man drew the attention of the soldiers upon exiting an Egged bus across the street from the central bus station.“He was acting very suspiciously, and two IDF soldiers patrolling the area as part of Jerusalem’s heightened security suspected he may be a terrorist and asked him to present his identification, but the man said he refused to show it,” Rosenfeld said on Thursday morning.“When the soldiers began questioning him, it turned into a fight, and the man tried to take a gun from one of the soldiers. Unfortunately, as a result, he was shot and killed at the scene.”Neither of the soldiers was wounded in the scuffle, he said.“Police are looking into his background and why he behaved like this,” he said. “Many different questions are being asked.”The soldiers’ account of the struggle and shooting was corroborated during a subsequent joint investigation by police and the IDF, who interviewed the driver of the bus that the suspect traveled in.“The bus driver who saw what was happening tried to help control him using a shocker, however, this person continued his attempt, allegedly, to snatch the weapon from the soldier,” police said in a statement.
“Nearby, a security guard spotted the struggle, ran to the scene and opened fire at the primary suspect. Another shooting was carried by the soldiers themselves.”