12:52PM IL: [PHOTOS & VIDEOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE] At least one person has been wounded, apparently seriously, in a stabbing attack in downtown Jerusalem in the area of Kikar Tzahal on Yafo Street. More to follow.
12:56: Magen David Adom reporting a victim being treated in serious condition.
1:01PM IL: CPR being performed on a female stabbing victim. The terrorist has been neutralized.
1:07PM IL: Due to the stabbing attack, all light rail service has been suspended temporarily.
1:15pm: MDA reports a woman was stabbed while the light rail was moving near Kikar Tzahal in downtown Jerusalem. The victim, about 25, is being transported to Hadassah Mt. Scopus Hospital in critical condition while CPR and advanced life support are taking place. She was stabbed in her upper torso.
A second female victim, about 30-years-old and pregnant, was injured when the train came to a sudden halt. A third victim, a male in his 50s, was injured in a leg while trying to flee. They are being transported to Shaare Zedek Medical Center and both are listed in light condition.
1:29PM IL: United Hatzalah reports that EMT Yechiel Stern saw people fleeing the light rail as he arrived and when he entered he found a female in serious condition who was unconscious. MDA EMT Ze’evi Hanafling reports there was a great deal of panic in the area as all EMS personnel began assessing the scene and treating victims. He explains that CPR and advanced life support was begun immediately on the critically wounded victim.
Police have now permitted the light rail to resume service between Mt. Herzl and the Central Bus Station as well as between the last stop in the northern capital to Shar Shechem.
1:34PM IL: Hadassah Hospital Spokesperson Hadar Elboim reports the female in cardiac arrest arrived in trauma center critical condition.
1:39PM IL: United Hatzalah Psychotrauma & Crisis Response Unit responded to the attack along with EMTs and paramedics.
United Hatzalah President Eli Beer said “a 14-year-old girl was stabbed on the light rail in Jerusalem. This heinous attack perpetrated by someone who hates Jews was done deliberately on the holiday of Pesach when many tourists, Jews, and Christians alike, visit the capital of Israel. We are saddened by the continued violence aimed at creating ill will between peoples in the holy city.”
1:49PM IL: Shaare Zedek Hospital reports pregnant woman and male with leg injury being evaluated in trauma unit. No update on their conditions.
1:53PM IL: The critically injured woman was pronounced dead in the hospital.
Jerusalem Police Chief Yoram Halevy reports the terrorists who perpetrated the attack is a 57-year-old mentally disturbed man with a history of family violence. He is a resident of Ras al-Amud.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group)
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3 Responses
BDE. The stabbing was certainly, as United Hatzalah President Eli Beer said, a heinous attack. However if what Jerusalem Police Chief Yoram Halevy says is correct that the one who perpetrated the attack is a 57-year-old mentally disturbed man with a history of family violence, this was not necessarily an attack against Jews “done deliberately on the holiday of Pesach when many tourists, Jews, and Christians alike, visit the capital of Israel”. There may be some “comfort factor” in labeling every despicable crime like this as anti-Semitic, but that is not necessarily the case. A crazy with a history of attacking his own family is not a rational individual.
My above comment is even more relevant now that it has become known that the victim was a 23 year old Christian tourist not a 14 year old Jewish girl. Mr Beer’s comments may come from the heart and be good for United Hatzalah fundraising but they were not helpful or respectful to the victim or her family. “Engage brain in gear before opening mouth” is always a good sign to have flashing up before your eyes.
Victim reportedly a British tourist. Faith not relevant. She was killed for being non-Muslim.
Until they can prove that they dont ‘believe’ that its the duty of Muslims to kill anyone who is not of their faith, every Muslim is to be treated as a potential terrorist.