The Muslim volunteer EMT who was the first responder at yesterday’s terror attack in Har Adar recognized one of the slain as being someone whom he had treated for a stab wound at a different terror attack a year prior.
Katish immediately began treating the wounded people. One of those injured was border police officer, Sgt. Solomon Gavria, 20, from Beer Yaakov in central Israel. Katish felt that Gavria looked familiar but couldn’t place from where he knew the officer from. It was only after leaving the scene and hearing the news on the radio that Gavria had been stabbed a year prior did Katish put the pieces together. Katish was the EMT who had treated Gavria for stab wounds the year before when he was injured in a stabbing attack near the same location as the shooting that claimed Gavria’s life.
Katish was also a close friend of one of the security guards who was killed in yesterday’s attack who also happened to be a resident of Abu Gosh, Yusuf Othman. Katish had known Othman for years. “Othman was a good man from a good family, he was a quiet man who was dedicated to his job. After serving in the border police for three years he became a security guard. By the time I left the scene on Tuesday morning, I knew that both of these men were no longer among the living, that is something that hurts and will continue to hurt for a long time.”