Police protected the wounded terrorist from locals who were incensed by the attack, a witness said.
By World Israel News Staff
A terrorist attack in a major bus station in southern Israel left one man wounded and the perpetrator dead.
On Sunday morning, a terrorist stabbed a 20-year-old IDF soldier, lightly wounding him, in the Beersheba Central Bus Station.
Magen David Adom paramedics confirmed that the victim was conscious and alert after the stabbing, and had been transported to the hospital in good condition. He is expected to make a full recovery.
According to Hebrew-language media reports, the assailant was an Arab citizen of Israel and resident of the nearby Bedouin city of Rahat.
“The terrorist who carried out the stabbing attack was neutralized by security forces with gunfire and later pronounced dead,” police said in a media statement.
People present at the scene said that off-duty soldiers traveling through the station fired the shots that neutralized the terrorist.
“Suddenly we heard shouts, ‘He stabbed me, shoot him,'” Ariel Cohen told Ynet.
“We saw a terrorist next to a young man who was bleeding from his arm. [The terrorist] then ran towards another group of soldiers, and they shot him.”
A witness said that the police had protected the wounded terrorist from locals who were incensed by the attack.
“Many people gathered around him and wanted to” attack him, the witness told Mako, “but the police very quickly secured him and took him to a car.”
The terrorist, who has not yet been publicly named, was transported to a nearby hospital where he died.
The stabbing and subsequent shooting sparked widespread panic in the bus station, another witness recounted to Mako.
“People jumped into taxis and threw themselves on the floor,” the witness said. “People were running everywhere, and some were crying.”
“Fortunately, the security forces reacted quickly and neutralized” the terrorist, the witness continued.
The witness then confirmed that an angry mob had gathered around the terrorist, but that “the police literally protected him with their bodies.”