Beersheva bus station shooting
On 18 October 2015, a gunman shot and killed 19-year-old Israeli soldier Omri Levy in a bus station in Beersheba. After killing the soldier, he took his automatic rifle and fired into a crowd. When more security officers appeared, the gunman fled, but was killed by security personnel.
| Beersheva bus station shooting | |
|---|---|
| Part of the 2015–2016 wave of violence in Israeli-Palestinian conflict | |
The attack site | |
| Native name | הפיגוע בתחנה המרכזית של באר שבע (2015) |
| Location | Beersheva, Israel |
| Coordinates | 31°14′33″N 34°47′48″E |
| Date | 18 October 2015 |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Weapons | Pistol, IMI Galil |
| Deaths | 3 (soldier, the perpetrator, civilian mistaken for second gunman) |
| Injured | 11 |
| Perpetrator | Muhand al-Okabi |
A 29-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker, Haftom Zarhum was mistaken for a second attacker. He was shot eight times by police and was kicked and beaten by four Israelis as he lay wounded, while bystanders shouted profanities at him. Graphic footage of the lynching was filmed by a bystander and spread on social media.
At least eleven people, including Zarhum, who died of his wounds a few hours later, and four police officers, were hospitalized. The gunman was the first Israeli Bedouin to be involved in an attack against Israelis.
In response to the lynching, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that citizens should not take the law into their own hands.