The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extended the arrest on Friday of Sanad al-Turman of East Jerusalem, suspected of carrying out the ramming attack in Jerusalem on Thursday morning, which wounded 12 IDF soldiers, one critically.
Al-Turman’s relatives claimed during the hearing that al-Turman hit the soldiers by accident and fled the scene due to fear that the soldiers would shoot him, thinking it was was a terror attack.
“He had an accident, a problem with the steering wheel and he panicked and fled because he was scared,” a relative stated.
Al-Turman’s brother added that contrary to Israel Police’s announcement that his brother was arrested at the Gush Etzion junction following an all-day manhunt, he himself brought his brother to the police station so he could turn himself in, saying the fact that his brother turned himself in proves that Thursday’s incident was a hit-and-run rather than a terror attack.
However, the police countered the relative’s statements by saying that al-Turman didn’t just drive away following the “accident” but smashed through a roadblock in order to flee the scene. Furthermore, al-Turman had posted a number of statements on social media prior to the attack that indicated terrorism.
חשבון הפייסבוק של המחבל, חאלד אל-טורמאן, תושב א-טור בן 24, שביצע הלילה את פיגוע הדריסה, היה צריך להדליק נורה אדומה במידה ונוטר באופן הנכון (הקשרים וביטויים). החשבון עדיין מייצר פוסטים התומכים במעשיו ויכול לשמש גם כעת לאיתור מי שעלול ללכת בעקבותיו pic.twitter.com/pOjDbiUHvh
— אינטלי טיימס – إنتل تايمز – Intelli Times (@IntelliTimes) February 6, 2020
Meanwhile, Sha’arei Tzedek hospital officials reported on Friday that there was a slight improvement in the condition of the soldier who was critically wounded in the attack. However, he is still hospitalized in the ICU, unconscious and on a respirator.
Two other soldiers who were wounded in the attack are still hospitalized in stable condition. Nine other soldiers were lightly wounded and were released from the hospital on Thursday
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Why does the fact that he crashed into a roadblock disprove his argument? If he was fleeing from police due to the fear of being shot for no reason it makes sense that he crashed. Also why didn’t the police rebut his argument that he turned himself in? It shouldn’t be a hard thing to prove. He may be lying but he seems to be making sense…