A suspect was shot and killed by military forces Sunday night as he attempted to steal a weapon from a female IDF soldier at a bus stop at the Ashkelon Junction on Highway 4 in southern Israel.
Police told TPS the suspect was a Jewish Israeli citizen.
According to police, the suspect had escaped earlier in the evening from a residential mental health facility. He snatched the weapon from the female soldier at the bus stop after assaulting her, then began running.
The female soldier was taken to Barzilai Medical Center with minor injuries.
The suspect was reportedly shot and killed by IDF Col. Eliav Elbaz, commander of the Benjamin Brigade, who was nearby at the time.
Hearing shouts of “terrorist! terrorist!” he ran towards the gun thief and started a suspicious arrest procedure, shouting “Waqf! Waqf!” (You’re under arrest) at him.
The gun thief continued to run when Elbaz fired into the air; at that point, the officer fired at him and killed him, convinced he was thwarting a terror attack.
