Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Quick Reaction Prevents Tragedy

December 1, 1992
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

Courageous action by a quick-thinking driver averted possible tragedy Monday after a Palestinian terrorist stabbed a teen- age boy at a bus stop in northern Jerusalem.

Ami Messika jumped from his car and pursued the attacker after hearing shouts of “terrorists, terrorists” from a boy and two women running down a road in the French Hill section of the city.

The 15-year-old boy, stabbed by a man shouting “Allahu akhbar (Allah is great),” sustained a slight shoulder wound. The assailant was identified as a resident of Ramallah in the West Bank.

Messika, a gardener, warned the attacker that he would shoot, although he had no weapon with him. He then knocked the terrorist down. The terrorist reached for his own gun just as a second passerby joined the fray, helping Messika hold the man down until police came.

The attack occurred at the site of a recent fatal shooting of a border policeman by a terrorist.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement