Israeli police said Friday that one of the Israeli soldiers killed an Israeli civilian, thinking he was a companion of two people from Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries, who opened fire at a bus station in Jerusalem.
The police added in a statement: “The Israeli soldier fatally wounded a civilian named Yuval Doron Castleman, before he died that evening.”
The attackers, two Palestinians from East Jerusalem, killed three people during rush hour Thursday morning, before being killed by two off-duty soldiers and a civilian named Yuval Doron Castleman.
Israeli media said Castleman turned 38 on Friday.
The police statement states: “The results of the investigation so far indicate that during the attack, an IDF soldier wrongly identified and suspected the deceased Yuval (Doron Castleman), who acted courageously to neutralize the terrorists, as a third terrorist “.
The statement added: “This soldier also shot him, resulting in serious injuries and his tragic death this evening.”
Surveillance camera footage obtained by Reuters shows a white car pulling up next to the busy bus station.
Then two men came out, pulled out rifles and attacked the crowd as people ran away. Shortly afterwards the Palestinian attackers were killed.
A video posted on social media shows Castleman using his weapon on one of the attackers before throwing the gun away and kneeling down, raising his hands in the air as if to indicate not to shoot.
The police statement reads: “We share the sadness of the family members of the deceased Yuval, who acted courageously and saved human lives. We express our condolences to the families of the other victims killed in the attack and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.” .”
Three people were killed and seven others were injured in a shooting attack near one of the entrances to Jerusalem on Thursday.
Jerusalem Police Chief Doron Turgeman stressed that the perpetrators were residents of East Jerusalem, arrived by car and carried out the operation using a pistol and an M-16 machine gun.
Police had previously announced that “two people suspected of involvement in the shooting were killed” near a bus stop at the northern entrance to Jerusalem.