Suspect in stabbing at Kibbutz Tzuba was reportedly hotel employee who used knife from kitchen
The suspected terrorist who carried out a stabbing attack at a hotel in Kibbutz Tzuba was an employee at the establishment, Hebrew media reports.
The assailant is reportedly a 42-year-old man from Shuafat in East Jerusalem, and has a history of security offenses.
Channel 12 reports, citing eyewitnesses, that the assailant took a knife from the hotel kitchen and shouted “Allahu akbar” before perpetrating the attack in the hotel dining room.
He stabbed a 50-year-old man, seriously injuring him, and a 23-year-old man, moderately injuring him.
He was subdued and arrested by an off-duty police investigator staying at the hotel, according to law enforcement.
The officer who arrested the attacker had been at a family event at the hotel, where he noticed a mass of people hurriedly leaving the building earlier.
After heading in the direction from which the civilians fled, he spotted the terrorist and confronted him, with the help of the dining room’s manager.
“I overpowered the terrorist with my hands rather than gunfire to reduce the danger to the civilians at the scene,” the officer says. “With the help of other brave civilians, I laid him on the floor and handcuffed him.”
One of the injured stabbing victims was the officer’s cousin, according to a police statement.
Magen David Adom paramedics arrived at the scene of the stabbing to find the wounded 23-year-old sitting in the hotel’s parking lot. He was taken to the hospital in moderate condition.
Paramedics later found the 50-year-old in the hotel dining room, suffering from a stab wound to the chest. He was also transported to the hospital.
Jerusalem District police commander Amir Arzani is currently conducting a situational assessment at the scene of the attack.
Three other suspects were also arrested in connection with the attack.