Jerusalem: Israeli authorities are investigating why a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem rammed his bulldozer into several cars and buses Wednesday, killing three people before Israeli police shot him dead.
Israeli authorities are labeling it a terrorist attack, although they say there is no clear motive and the man - a construction worker -- acted alone. It is not known if he had links to any terrorist organization.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CNN the bulldozer operator drove down a busy thoroughfare in West Jerusalem, crashing into four cars and two buses, before heading toward a crowded market.
"We believe he acted on his own and tried to kill as many people as possible," Rosenfeld said.
"If he would have continued ... he would have made his way into an open market, hundreds of people doing shopping there ... and this could have been (an) even worse terrorist attack than we have experienced today."
The rampage lasted about four to five minutes before a police officer climbed up the side of the swerving bulldozer and fatally shot the driver.
Police identified the attacker as a Palestinian man from a village in East Jerusalem with a criminal record. He worked at a construction site in the area, one of several along Jaffa Road.
Rosenfeld said because the man was a Jerusalem resident, "he was able to arrive in the main part of Jerusalem without any problem whatsoever."
In addition to the fatalities, two people were seriously wounded and 42 others sustained minor injuries, paramedics said.
President Bush called Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday morning to express his condolences over the attack, a White House spokesman said.
According to police and witnesses, the bulldozer ran over a car, crushing its front end and killing the driver before bumping into a bus shortly afterwards. It then struck another bus further down the road -- knocking it over leaving a gaping hole in its side - and three other cars before a special police patrol unit arrived on motorcycles.
When the driver did not stop, one of the motorcycle police jumped onto the cab of the bulldozer, Rosenfeld said.
"There was a struggle that took place inside the actual cabin of the bulldozer," he said. "The terrorist himself was shot both by a security guard as well as a police special patrol unit that arrived at the scene, thus ending the killings."
Video footage shows the end of the incident, with several onlookers giving chase to the construction vehicle as it swerves away from the camera.
A man is then seen to climb up the side of the bulldozer and reach into the cab before it finally comes to a halt. Police said that the driver was shot in the head at point blank range.
The attack happened right in front a building housing several news organizations -- including CNN's Jerusalem bureau - on Jaffa Road, one of the longest and oldest streets in the city. The busy avenue is lined with shops and businesses. Several bulldozers and other construction equipment are in the area because a light rail service is being installed.
City residents walked about shocked and dazed, many of them witnesses to the attack.
"When I came down it was utter pandemonium," CNN's Ben Wedeman said. "Hundreds of people in the street not knowing what was going on."
Wedeman said he had just arrived when the Israeli police officer climbed onto the bulldozer's cab and shot the driver at point blank range.
Yosef Spielman described how a car had been picked up "like a toy" by the bulldozer, The Associated Press reported, adding: "All the people were running. They had no chance."
And Yaakov Ashkenazi, an 18-year-old religious student, told the agency how the shovel of the bulldozer came down on a car. "He smashed the guy sitting in the driver's seat."
Soldier Hen Shimon, 19, said that the driver "had a gun and started shooting at a police officer," AP added.
If confirmed, it would be the first terrorist attack to be carried out on Israeli soil since a gunman opened fire on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem in March, killing eight students.
Israel has been the target of numerous rocket strikes launched by Palestinian militants in Gaza.
A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza came into effect last month.
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