Posted on 11/04/2001 9:55:44 AM PST by kattracks
JERUSALEM, Nov 04, 2001 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Mazal Amsalem saw the gunman through the window and cried out to the schoolgirls sitting near her on the No. 25 bus to get down.
The teen-age yeshiva students did as they were told, and began reciting psalms as automatic gunfire shattered the bus windows around them.
Sitting crouched on the sidewalk, Amsalem recounted the moments of terror as a Palestinian gunman sprayed the bus with gunfire, killing two people and turning an afternoon commute home from school into a horror.
One of the dead was identified by police as Shoshana Ben Yishai, a 16-year-old from the West Bank settlement of Betar Illit.
"It's terrible that high-school girls get wounded, some in the head, some in the back. It's indescribable," Amsalem said Sunday still in shock, her right hand clutching a scrunched-up tissue.
"I could see him very clearly outside the door," she said. "I was scared. The first thing I did throw myself to the floor and I yelled at some girls to get heir heads down," she said.
"They all did, and they began reciting psalms and praying," she said.
The area of the shooting was in a disputed part of Jerusalem, the French Hill district, which is near several Palestinian villages and neighborhoods.
The intersection, which had a trail of blood running through it, was cordoned off at the start of the busy afternoon rush-hour and police swarmed the area. Backpacks were strewn on the ground near the shattered glass from the bus windows.
The bus door and most of the windows were either blown out or punctured by bullets, and bloodied victims were visible through the windows for several minutes as paramedics rushed to the scene. One man, his head bloodied, sat motionless in the back seat.
The gunman, identified by police as a 24-year-old member of the militant group Islamic Jihad, managed to empty his M-16 of bullets before being killed by a civilian, a border guard and a soldier who opened fire, police said.
An eyewitness who identified himself only as Marcus told Israel radio he fired first.
"I got out of the car. I fired. I emptied an entire clip. He fell. Then two soldiers came and I showed them where he was and they shot him with their M-16s," he said.
Border policeman Eliad Ela, 19, was patrolling the area with a female colleague when they heard the gunfire and ran toward it, cocking their guns.
"When I got there I looked around the corner of the bus and saw a man shooting all over the place," Ela told reporters. "I shot at him. I saw that he was neutralized. I kicked his gun away and went to help the wounded."
By JAMIE TARABAY Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved
If Islamic leaders don't mount a credible effort to stop this type of terrorism, their claim to be a peaceful religion will be as believable as the words of Malik Shabaaz.
But Bill Clinton isn't a cop , so sent a proxy to look for Bin Laden....
You can porky-pig this all you want and claim that you were misquoted like Bill Maher. I've read what you have said on other threads so there's no going back.
Mohammad Yousaf hides his face from photographers as he and Mohammed Salim, right, are taken by police for investigation in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2001. They are suspected of putting anthrax powder in an envelope along with a news release that was sent to Pakistan's largest newspaper, the Daily Jang, last week. (AP Photo/Zia Mazhar)
The most effective security...
Police officers lead Mohammad Yousaf, second right, and Mohammed Salim, right, for questioning in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2001. They are suspected of putting anthrax powder in an envelope along with a news release that was sent to Pakistan's largest newspaper, the Daily Jang, last week. (AP Photo/Zia Mazhar)
If they tired it in Texas I imagine he could end up looking like a piece of swiss cheese.
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