JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian man who drove his car into two Israelis at a Jerusalem bus stop, killing one and critically injuring the other, did so deliberately, police determined.
“Today we can say that it is a horrible attack,” Israel Police Chief Yohanan Danino said in a statement issued Saturday about the April 16 incident in the French Hill neighborhood, near the border of eastern and western Jerusalem.
Police had originally treated the incident as an accident, saying at the time that the driver “swerved from his lane and hit two civilians standing at the station,” Ynet reported.
Shalom Sharki, 25, of Jerusalem, died hours later of his injuries. A 20-year-old woman remains in critical condition.
The driver, Khaled Kotina, 37, of eastern Jerusalem, was questioned by police and the Shin Bet security service. He reportedly is married with no children and has no criminal record.
There have been several terror attacks in recent months in which cars were used to ram pedestrians in Jerusalem. In one such incident in October, two people were killed, including a 3-month-old girl.
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