Seven wounded in gun attack on Jerusalem bus
Jerusalem, Aug 14 (EFE).- At least seven people were injured, two seriously, when a gunman opened fire on a bus Sunday morning near Jerusalem’s Old City, the Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom reported.
After an intense police search in the area, a suspect was later arrested after turning himself in and a firearm was seized, a police spokesman confirmed.
The identity of the suspect has not been released and Israeli authorities are treating the incident as a suspected terror attack.
The shootings took place around 1.30 am (22:30 GMT Saturday) against a city bus and in a parking lot near King David’s Tomb.
The assailant allegedly fired at boarding passengers before fleeing on foot to the nearby Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, where police carried out search-and-seizure operations.
Seriously injured was a 35-year-old pregnant woman, who underwent an emergency delivery at Shaare Zedek hospital. The baby’s condition is serious but stable, according to Israeli media.
Among the injured are also four members of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family from the United States who arrived in the country on Wednesday as tourists. The father was seriously injured.
“Jerusalem is our capital and a center of tourism for all religions. Police forces and the IDF are working to restore calm and the feeling of security to the city,” Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement.
“Let all those who wish us evil know that they will pay a price for any harming of civilians,” he added.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said the incident was “a natural response to the occupation’s daily crimes against our people, our country and major Muslim and Christian sites.”
The attack comes a week after a ceasefire ended a three-day escalation between Israel and the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza that killed 49 Palestinians, including 17 children. EFE
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