Bus driver who shot Be’er Sheva terrorist identified, can’t get his weapon back
The Egged bus driver who shot and killed the terrorist who murdered 4 people in a stabbing attack in Be’er Sheva on Tuesday has been identified as 44-year-old Artur Haimov.
Scene of Be’er Sheva stabbing attack Photo: TPS
He remained at the local police station trying to get back his weapon, but the police continue to hold onto it.
A video of the incident shows Haimov pleading with the terrorist, Muhammad Galeb Ahmad Abu Alqian, a 33-year-old Bedouin resident of the Israeli Arab town of Hura, to put down his knife. Haimov only opened fire after an extended period in which he gave Abu Alqian a chance to surrender. Local Arabs could also be heard shouting in Arabic for him to put down the knife.
“I got off the bus, I talked to the terrorist,” Haimov told Israel’s Kan 11 News. “I told him to get the knife down. At some point, he attacked me and at my discretion I shot him. I did everything I could do.”
It was later reported that Haimov refused to leave the police station without his weapon and that the police threatened to arrest him if he remained there.
Advocate Adi Keidar from the Haneinu organization said, “Following the police’s refusal to return his weapon to the shooter and his security, the police are now demanding that he leave the station and threaten to detain him.”
The police released a statement in response saying, “The weapons used against the perpetrator today in the tragic incident were taken as part of conventional investigative actions at the end of which they will be returned to their owners.”
The police said that this is all part of its routine investigation procedure in these matters and praised Haimov saying, “The citizen who neutralized the terrorist acted resourcefully on the ground and prevented a more severe attack.”
