A Border Patrol captain fell in the line of duty on Wednesday while trying to protect Jerusalem civilians from a Hamas terrorist.
Chief Inspector Jadan Assad, 38, was from the Druze village of Beit J’an in northern Israel. Assad was gravely wounded in the terror attack and tragically pronounced dead upon arrival at Hadassah Medical Center’s Ein Kerem trauma unit, despite extended CPR and advanced life support resuscitation efforts.
He leaves behind his pregnant wife and a three year old child; three other Border Patrol officers also were wounded in the attack.
“All my sons serve in the security forces; the Border Police was in his blood and soul,” said Assad’s father shortly after hearing of his son’s death. “He loved the service and he loved Jerusalem.”
The Hamas terrorist organization praised the vehicular terror attack which also injured at least 13 others. Three of the most seriously wounded were also rushed to Hadassah Medical Center’s Ein Kerem trauma center.
The terrorist, a known Hamas operative who lived in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, has been identified as Ibrahim al-Akari.
The attacker first mowed down a crowd of pedestrians waiting for the Jerusalem Light Rail at the Shimon HaTzadik platform. He then drove on to Moshe Zaks Street and repeated the process with new victims.
The attack mirrored one that took place two weeks ago at the Ammunition Hill station for the Light Rail. In that tragedy, a terrorist drove his car down the tracks and then directly into the crowd of commuters who were standing on the platform waiting patiently for the train.
But in this case, Al-Akari continued his attack; he got out of his vehicle and began beating others with a metal bar until he saw police cars begin to arrive. Finally he fled down Route 1, where he was chased by Border Patrol officers who shot and killed him, ending the savagery — at least temporarily.
A scant few hours later, Arabs in Shuafat followed the terror spree with an attempt of their own, hurling firebombs (Molotov cocktails) and shooting fireworks at Border Patrol officers in Jerusalem’s Shuafat section.
In a separate incident, two other Arabs meanwhile sprayed tear gas at Jerusalem police officers. It is not clear where they managed to obtain the weapon. No one was injured in either attack, and police report one arrest following the incidents.