A Palestinian man took a construction vehicle on a rampage through downtown Jerusalem Tuesday, injuring at least 15 people before a civilian and border policeman shot him dead.
The man, who lived in east Jerusalem, rammed a backhoe loader into three cars and a city bus, in an echo of a similar incident three weeks ago.
"After I passed him, he turned round, made a U-turn and rammed the windows twice with the shovel," said the driver of the bus, Avi Levi. "The third time he aimed for my head, he came up to my window and I swerved to the right. Otherwise I would have gone to meet my maker."
A pedestrian recorded a video of the violence using his cellphone. The short movie shows the construction vehicle approaching him before a civilian runs up to the driver and begins shooting. The vehicle's shovel then falls to the ground and a policeman arrives, shooting the driver again.
Channel 10 TV reported that a mother and her baby were injured in the attack.
"It's been a very frantic scene here," CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer reported Tuesday from the scene.
Frayer said Israelis are on edge because the incident mirrored an incident earlier this month when a Palestinian man went on a similar rampage with a construction vehicle -- killing three people and injuring at least 45.
Tuesday's incident comes just hours ahead of the arrival of U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
The attack was on the same street as the King David hotel where Obama is going to be checking into later tonight, said Frayer.
Israeli officials are now looking at ways to step up security, mainly in predominantly Arab east Jerusalem, she said.
Police identified the driver in the attack Tuesday as 22-year-old Ghassan Abu Teir, a resident of Jerusalem. His family said he was not affiliated with any militant group.
With files from The Associated Press
