Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai arrived on Thursday evening at the scene of the stabbing attack near the central Israeli city of Modi’in where he met Senior Staff Sergeant Major D., a Border Police officer who killed the terrorist.
"Well done, you reacted properly. You saved your wife’s life and I don't know how many more people were saved here thanks to you. Well done," the police commissioner told him.
Senior Staff Sergeant Major D., who was in a car with his wife, told the commissioner about the moments when the terrorist opened the door of their car in an attempt to stab them with a knife he had in his possession. In addition, the officer told about the sequence of the incident, at the end of which he got out of the vehicle and fired at the terrorist, neutralizing him and thus ending the incident.
D., a veteran Border Police officer, said that the terrorist tried to open the door of the vehicle in which he and his wife were traveling, and tried to stab her. "I stepped on the gas in order to get away from him, and after 20-30 meters I stopped and quickly got out of the vehicle," said the officer, who was on vacation at the time of the attack, and wearing civilian clothes.
"I went in his direction, I didn't pull out the weapon yet," recalled the officer. "I saw him running towards me quickly, and when he was a few meters from me I fired a few bullets in his direction. I saw that he was continuing, I went back to keep a distance from him and he continued to run. I fell, and then when he was almost on top of me, I fired a few more bullets at him."
Border Police commander Amir Cohen spoke to the officer and said, "You acted with determination and professionalism and sought contact at a real risk and threat to your life, the life of your partner and other civilians. You showed a great deal of responsibility even on vacation, striving to contact and neutralizing the terrorist, this clearly reflects activity of the Border Police and Israel Police officers throughout the year, 24/7."