The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Monday extended the remand of the man
suspected of stabbing a soldier on the light rail in the capital on March 15 for
an additional four days.
The suspect, 18-year-old Muhammad Shuman from
the Beit Hanina neighborhood, seriously injured Yehudit Aharon when he stabbed
her multiple times on the light rail in the Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood. It was
the first violent incident on the light rail, which began carrying passengers in
August.
Aharon was released from Shaare Zedek Medical Center last
Thursday after recovering from her wounds. The stab wounds missed her heart by a
few centimeters, which doctors said was “a miracle.”
According to the
police investigation, Shuman went to school on the morning of the incident armed
with a knife. Upon arrival, he decided not to enter the school grounds and got
on the light rail in the direction of his house around 10 a.m. He sat across
from the soldier, who was in uniform on the way to her base. A few seconds
before the light rail pulled into the Yekutiel Adam station in Pisgat Ze’ev,
Shuman stood up and stabbed her a number of times.
When the doors opened,
Shuman fled the scene for his home. When he got to his house, he told his
brother about the stabbing, and then took a bus in the direction of Ramallah
with the intention of staying with relatives in the West Bank.
While
Shuman was on the bus he threw the knife out the window, police
said. Police caught Shuman at the Kalandiya checkpoint before he crossed
into the West Bank.
During the first investigation, Shuman said that he
stabbed the soldier as revenge for Israel’s actions against the Palestinians.
Police believe that he was acting independently and is not part of a terror
organization.
Shuman’s lawyer, Muhammad Mahmud, denied that the incident
was a revenge attack and said Shuman had been brought for a psychiatric
evaluation. He added that emotional or mental problems are a more likely motive
than terrorism. Mahmud added that Shuman has no history of criminal activity and
had never been investigated by the police for involvement in rock throwing or
other nationally motivated activities.
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