Border Police Commanding Officer Deputy Commissioner Berik Yitzhak met on Sunday afternoon with the reservists who neutralized the terrorist who committed the ramming attack at the Nir Tzvi Junction in central Israel and praised their actions. The driver of the vehicle in which the officers arrived at the scene recounted: "I heard a boom, I looked left and saw a car in the bus shelter. We drove there quickly, we got out of the car and we loaded our weapons. I shot one bullet, I told everyone to stop to see if the terrorist was neutralized." "Professional and commendable work, this neutralization was very important," Yitzhak told the officers. "We are in a very challenging time with quite a few threats. You did professional and serious work, you have full support for this action, good for you, you prove all the time that the reserves system of the Israel Police and the Border Police is the most serious and high-quality system that reenforces Israel Police. Four people were injured, one critically and one seriously, in the ramming attack. Police identified the terrorist as 27-year-old Muhammad Aaleb Mahmoud Shahab an Israeli citizen from eastern Jerusalem. He was neutralized and received medical treatment at the scene. According to eyewitnesses, the driver ran over the three pedestrians before crashing into a bus stop. The two victims who were seriously and critically injured were young men of about 20 years old. The other two victims were moderately and lightly injured. Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai stated at the scene: "The terrorist was acting alone. Initial investigations found that he had no assistance or collaborators. He was neutralized by a reserve Border Police force." The force according to Shabtai was part of reinforcements that were called in light of threats following the possible elimination of Hamas militant wing leader Mohammed Deif. Police Spokesman Eli Levi told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News at the scene of the attack: "Border Police forces neutralized the terrorist. I understand that some of the injured opened fire and assisted in neutralizing the terrorist and preventing him from executing an even worse attack." He added: "The possibility that it was a combined attack has been ruled out, it was a ramming attack, the gunshots that I reported were those of the neutralization of the terrorist."
