Baby reportedly killed, 8 hurt as car hits pedestrians in Jerusalem

Israeli police shot and wounded the driver of a car who rammed a group of pedestrians in Jerusalem on Wednesday, injuring nine, in what the police are calling a suspected "terror attack".

Shortly before 6:00 pm (1500 GMT), a car hit pedestrians at the Ammunition Hill tram stop, which lies on the seamline between west and occupied east Jerusalem. 

A three-month-old baby was reportedly killed in the incident, Haaretz reported.

"A private car which arrived from the direction of the French Hill junction hit a number of pedestrians who were on the pavement and injured nine of them," police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement. "The driver apparently tried to flee on foot and was shot and wounded by a policeman from the Jerusalem district."

It was not immediately clear how badly he was hurt, nor were there any details on his identity.

"Initial indications suggest this is a hit-and-run terror attack," Samri said. 

Eyewitnesses told Ma'an News Agency that it appeared that the 20-year-old driver, Abd al-Rahman al-Shaludi, had lost control of his car. After hitting the commuters, he was fleeing when police shot him in the back.

Al-Shaludi was held in an Israeli prison for 16 months before he was released last December, Ma'an reported. He was re-arrested in February and held for a month. It was not immediately clear why he had been held in prison. 

A spokesman for the emergency services said two people were seriously hurt in the incident. Another two were in moderate condition and four more sustained light injuries.

At the scene, a silver car with the front badly dented stood in the road and two stationary trains at the nearby tram station, an AFP correspondent said.

Dozens of onlookers watched as police sealed off access to the road, a major traffic artery called Route 1, causing major traffic jams throughout the rest of the city.