2:05PM IL: According to Jerusalem Police Chief Yoram Halevy, the 57-year-old Ras el-Amud resident who perpetrated the stabbing attack on the Jerusalem light rail earlier today, erev Shabbos Chol Hamoed Pesach 5777, is a “mentally disturbed individual with a history of family violence”.
The call came in to EMS at 12:50PM for a stabbing on the Jerusalem light rail near Tzahal Square. The victim who was R”L killed is reported to be in her 20s, sustaining stab wounds to her upper torso. She went into traumatic cardiac arrest and despite CPR and advanced life support measures, she was pronounced dead in the trauma unit of Hadassah Mt. Scopus Hospital. Unconfirmed but reliable reports state she was a Christian tourist visiting from Britain.
A second victim is a male in his 50s with a light leg injury sustained while trying to flee the terrorist. a third victim is a woman in advanced months of pregnancy knocked to the floor when the train came to a sudden halt. She was originally reported in light condition. They were both transported to Shaare Zedek Medical Center and are being evaluated at this time.
In one of the photos one can see the butcher’s knife used in the attack. The attacker was neutralized and is in police custody.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group)
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10 Responses
Why must they report that the filthy murderer was “mentally disturbed” with family issues? What a bunch of garbage put out by his Jewish Liberal lawyer. If he was disturbed, why didn’t he killed one of his own lovely family? Is he from the Dawabsheh family? Why does he have to get on a Jewish train and murder what he thought was a Jew? The corrupt Israeli government is still trying to placate the NY Times & CNN? Are they afraid of the no show, Rex Tillerson?
Condolences to the victim’s family. 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 “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. 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.
Funny you should write he was unstable! Aren’t they all unstable?!!
ה’ ישמורינו
Our government and community leaders who allowed a “mentally disturbed individual with a history of family violence” to circulate freely in our society failed us. This individual was known to be dangerous yet we were left unprotected. I would like to see accountability. Who will resign over this? What changes will be made? Or will we accept the media’s line that it’s not our fault, only some disturbed person over which we have no control?
Hitler was also mentally disturbed
This is a tragedy for the family of the niftar whatever the circumstances were regarding the perpetrator. However, to those who dismiss the veracity of what the police say or simply question why such a mentally unstable individual was allowed to “walk around”, I would simply note that we sadly have many such individuals walking the streets of the U.S. and EY with few options available to those who wish to help. Aside from the absence of sufficient mental hospital beds or outpatient facilities, the laws of both countries severely restrict the ability of family and police to forcefully confine such individuals even if they appear to be unstable but don’t have a history of violence or are not deemed to be an “immediate danger”. There is a big difference between saying “someone is KNOWN to be dangerours” and proving it. In some cases, you can get a 72 hour confinement order but after that period, its almost impossible either in the U.S. or EY to get the person held against heir will unless doctors are willing to certify an immecdiate threat or risk to a judge (which rarely happens).
In the good old days the mentally ill were locked up for their own and more importantly for the publics safety.
Amazing. A foreign, non-Jewish victim, and it does merit reporting in the New York Slimes. – the on-line edition, I can’t say how deeply it will be buried, if it even appears in the print newspaper.
karlbenmarx, leaving arabs aside, what you’re proposing is horrible. Imagine being locked up for life just because you’re sick.