Eritrean migrant mistaken for Beersheba terrorist dies of wounds after being shot in the head, beaten by bystanders
The soldier killed Sunday evening in a terror attack in Beersheba is identified by the army as Omri Levi, 19, of Sde Hemed. His family has been notified.
Meanwhile, officials at Soroka hospital in Beersheba say the Eritrean asylum seeker shot after being mistaken for a terrorist during the attack at Beersheba’s central bus station has succumbed to his wounds.
Police opened an investigation in the shooting of the migrant. Amateur footage (Warning: Graphic images) of the moments following the attack shows a crowd of bystanders beating and kicking the man as he lies in a pool of blood, apparently in the mistaken belief he was one of the attackers.
Nearly a dozen were said wounded in the terror attack, including one soldier seriously and three other soldiers lightly.
According to an initial police investigation, a Palestinian assailant stabbed a soldier and stole his firearm, then opened fire on the crowded bus terminal. The unidentified man, believed to be Palestinian, was then shot and killed by responding forces after holing up in a bathroom.
During the confusion of the attack, two officers — one from an anti-terrorism unit and another from the Border Police — mistook the Eritrean national for a second gunman and shot him in the head.
“We’re talking about a very serious terror attack that could have resulted in severe consequences if it weren’t for the resourcefulness and the quick response of security forces,” Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danielovitch told Channel 2 after the attack.
“I appeal to residents: I understand the storm of emotions, but specifically now, we must practice restraint, be balanced and act calmly. Do not take the law into your own hands,” he urged.
Police said a man, thought to be Palestinian, entered the bus station armed with a pistol and knife, stabbed and killed the 19-year-old Levi and wounded 11 others, including four other soldiers and four police officers.
Gadi Abuchatzeira, deputy head of the Magen David Adom Negev Region, said emergency workers responding to the attack found a number of injured, all of them in their 20s, inside the bus station.
“We arrived at the scene en masse and spread throughout the station to look for other victims. We did a triage and began giving lifesaving treatment. Two of them had wounds to their upper bodies, they were unconscious,” Abuchatzeira said.
“Four of the injured were fully conscious in moderate condition and suffering from gunshot wounds to the torso and legs. A woman was also injured with a gunshot wound to the limbs,” he continued.
Security-camera footage of the attack aired on Israeli TV seemed to show several people running from a man, who is eventually shot several times by a responding officer.
In the footage, no weapon can be seen in his hand, and he looks as though he may be trying to escape as well.
Police were also investigating reports from eyewitnesses who said they saw two men, possibly accomplices, fleeing the scene of the attack.
The evening attack in the southern city was the first in what had been a quiet day, following a weekend that saw seven stabbings or stabbing attempts in Jerusalem, Hebron and elsewhere, amid a spate of attacks by Palestinians terrorists in recent weeks.
As reported by The Times of Israel