Menachem Palace, one of the victims in the Jerusalem bus attack, tells CBS2 it's a miracle he's OK
NEW YORK -- A gunman opened fire on a crowded bus in Jerusalem over the weekend, injuring eight people.
Five of the wounded are American citizens, including some from Brooklyn. One of them spoke with CBS2's Lisa Rozner on Monday afternoon.
Fresh off a flight from Israel, 22-year-old shooting survivor Menachem Palace is back at Chabad Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights. He said it is a miracle he's okay.
Late Saturday night, he was on a bus in Jerusalem, traveling to his hotel after praying at the Western Wall. He was sitting by the window as it pulled into the next stop.
"I hear like a bullets -- pop, pop. I look to my right and I see the window is like broken and on my shoulder there's like blood, so I quickly ducked for cover, and the whole bus was screaming," Palace said. "Then at the hospital, they took X-ray and they found a little bullet right by my neck in the back."
Four other Americans were injured, including Shia Hersh Glick of Williamsburg and his son, State Department: 5 of 8 wounded in shooting in Jerusalem from Brooklyn.
Rabbi David Niederman said the trip was a religious trip in advance of his son's upcoming wedding, adding the elder Glick tried shielding his family from the bullets and that he is a cancer survivor known for giving back in the Satmar community.
"There's a lot of need and after work. What he did, he had a second job which is helping others. This is what the family is all about," Niederman said. "Here he is, almost killed him. Thank God he's getting better, the son is getting better."
Asaf Zamir, the consul general of Israel in New York, said only two of the Americans remain in the hospital and no one is in critical condition.
"We regard it as a terrorist attack aimed at Jews going to prayer and being hurt for being Jewish," Zamir said. "It is a reminder for us that terror does not distinguish between Jews, Muslims and Christians in Israel. It does not distinguish between Israeli citizens and Americans or people from other nationalities."
Congregants are praying that the entire Glick family recovers so that they can return home to Williamsburg and see the son get married.
Both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have said they stand with Israel and are supporting the Americans injured.
Israeli police did take the gunman into custody and recovered his weapon.
