Bulldozer attack driver shot dead in Jerusalem

By Rebecca Harrison

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A bulldozer driver went on a rampage in Jerusalem on Tuesday, hitting vehicles near a hotel where U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was due to stay later in the day, before he was shot dead.

Police described the incident -- which took place while Israeli President Shimon Peres hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at Peres's official residence less than a kilometre (half-mile) away -- as a "terrorist" attack.

It was the second bulldozer attack in Jewish west Jerusalem in less than a month. Emergency services said at least 11 people were injured, one seriously.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

"The bulldozer driver left a construction site and hit two cars," a police spokesman said, without identifying him.

"A civilian who saw what was happening shot him. The bulldozer continued on its way. A border police patrol ... continued to shoot and the terrorist was killed," the spokesman said.

"The first thing I saw is that he tried to smash the head of a passerby with the (bulldozer's) shovel. Then he zigzagged down the street, smashing into cars," said eyewitness Moshe Feiglin.

A similar attack in Jerusalem killed three Israelis on July 2 before the Palestinian bulldozer driver was shot dead by an off-duty soldier and police.