“It’s a huge miracle” that more people were not wounded in the attack, said a witness.
By World Israel News Staff
Police in Jerusalem are searching for two terrorists who plowed their car into pedestrians, then attempted to carry out a shooting attack, before fleeing the scene.
The terror attack occurred in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood on Monday morning, just before the start of the Passover holiday.
According to eyewitness accounts, the pair intentionally drove their car, a white Kia, into a crowd of people near a synagogue. The terrorists then exited the vehicle and attempted to shoot more victims with a submachine gun.
The gun, an improvised assault rifle often manufactured in PA-controlled areas known locally as a “Carlo,” jammed. The terrorists were unable to shoot using the weapon, and abandoned it at the scene. An axe was also found nearby.
The only wounds victims sustained in the attack came from the car-ramming.
According to a statement from Sha’arei Tzedek hospital, three people were transported for treatment.
A 21-year-old man and 15-year-old boy were listed as being in good condition, while a third pedestrian was treated and released.
A man identified only as Yehuda, who is the brother of the one of the victims, told Ynet that the terrorists’ gun jamming was a “miracle.”
Magen David Adom paramedic Nadav Arzi said “we were called to Yermiyahu Street, near the place where the car hit the pedestrians. We saw a young man who was fully conscious, walking around. He told us that a vehicle had sped up” and intentionally hit him and other pedestrians.
“The attack was near the ‘Nachlat Akiva’ [synagogue], where thousands of people pray every day,” Simcha, a local resident, told Ynet.
“On the morning of the holiday, people get up early to pray, it’s a huge miracle” that more people were not wounded in the attack, he said.
A manhunt is ongoing for the perpetrators of the attack, with police forces using helicopters and other resources to locate them.