A Palestinian man set off a terror scare after shooting a bus on a main Jerusalem route with an air gun Wednesday night before fleeing and setting off a large manhunt in the heart of the city.
Surveillance camera footage of the incident shows the suspect approaching the bus and shooting at it from point-blank range, shattering the front door glass.
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Police on scene of suspected terrorist attack in Jerusalem, February 9, 2022
(Photo: Israel Police)
Initially suspecting a terror attack, massive police massive forces and a police helicopter streamed to the area and toward the Old City, the supposed escape route of the suspected terrorist.
The police later stated that initial investigative actions found that no live ammunition was used in the incident and was deemed of criminal nature rather than nationalist.
Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turgeman conducted a situation assessment at the scene and instructed forces to continue searching after the suspect.
Eyewitnesses reported that the driver and a passenger-turned-shooter, both residents of the predominately Palestinian Silwan neighborhood, apparently knew each other and that the shooting occurred after an altercation between them.
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Glass of bus door shattered after suspected shooting in Jerusalem, February 9, 2022
(Photo: Haim Goldich)
The police estimate the shooter will be apprehended in the near future as the driver has identified him.
Israeli security forces are on high alert following a spike in terror attacks in recent weeks, particularly after an Israeli Special Forces unit killed three members of a terror cell in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday.
The three, who had carried out a least five shooting attacks in the West Bank in recent weeks, were members of Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which has threatened to revenge their deaths.