As motorists fled on foot or took cover in their vehicles on Thursday morning, three heavily armed terrorists roamed between cars stuck in traffic outside a checkpoint near Jerusalem. Matan Elmaleh, 26, from Ma’ale Adumim, was killed in the attack, which injured eight, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman. Two of the terrorists were shot and killed at the scene by civilians. The third was killed attempting to flee the scene.

First responders from Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah emergency services treated the victims at the scene on Highway 1 outside Ma’ale Adumim. The pregnant woman was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where she underwent “significant surgery.”

Ten other people were evacuated to nearby Jerusalem hospitals. Among them were four in moderate condition, fully conscious, including a 30-year-old woman with gunshot wounds to her upper body, a 23-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and limbs, a 51-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the limbs, and a 52-year-old woman with gunshot wounds to the limbs.

RELATED

In addition, MDA teams evacuated four people suffering from PTSD to area hospitals.

The three terrorists had arrived at the scene in two separate vehicles, fully armed with an M-16 rifle, a Carlo submachine gun, grenades, and cartridges.

The attack took place on one of the main thoroughfares leading to Jerusalem, notorious for morning traffic jams and used by both Jewish and Arab residents of Judea entering the nation’s capital.

One eyewitness said she “had nowhere to run” when the terrorists opened fire. “If I had left one minute earlier, I would’ve been smack in the middle of the attack.”

“Someone exited his car and began shooting all over. It was unreal. Security forces rushed to the scene in great numbers. IDF, police, helicopters. We’re talking about three lanes in the road that saw condensed traffic jams, leaving the terrorists free to shoot wherever they wanted.”