February 26, 1996
Web posted at: 10:00 a.m EST (1500 GMT)
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A car driven by an Arab-American smashed into a crowd of Israelis standing at a bus stop in Jerusalem Monday, killing at least two and injuring 11, Prime Minister Shimon Peres said.
Police Commissioner Assaf Hefetz initially said "this was an attack, not an accident," but Jerusalem police commander Arieh Amit later said that it appeared to be an accident. He noted there were long skid marks on the street, indicating the driver tried to stop.
The driver was shot and killed by Israeli civilians at the scene, a northern Jerusalem intersection between Jewish and Arab neighborhoods.
A witness said the car ran a red light at high speed and then smashed into the crowded bus stop.
"The driver got out of the car and shouted 'Allahu Akbar (God is Great)' and then someone shot him," said the witness, who declined to be identified.
The driver, a man in his 30s, lay in the middle of the street. A bag or backpack lay nearby. Along the sidewalk where people had been hit, pieces of a woman's black hat were left behind.
Peres said in a speech to parliament that the driver was an Arab-American. Police said the man had rented the car from a company in Jerusalem. Peres said the man carried documents with the name Ahmed Abdel Hamida.
Police said two people were killed, and a spokesman for the ambulance service at the scene said 11 were hurt in the incident.
The bus stop is a gathering point for Jewish West Bank settlers returning from jobs or studies in Jerusalem.
On Sunday, Muslim militants carried out two suicide bombings in Israel, killing 25 people in addition to the two bombers.
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AP contributed to this report.
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