Tel Aviv cop accidentally invited terrorist into his home after attack

The terrorist stayed there with the cop's wife and in-laws, shortly before  the cop found the similarly dressed second terrorist and realized his mistake.

An off-duty Tel Aviv cop unknowingly let one of the terrorists from the Sarona attack into his apartment in the city, and then left him in the house with his wife and in-laws before realizing his error.

Tel Aviv police confirmed the bizarre story on Thursday, following queries from reporters.

A spokesman said that the officer and his wife were at the Cinematheque in Tel Aviv when they heard the gunshots from Sarona. The cop ran towards the gunshots, police said, and then shortly thereafter he and his wife made their way to their apartment building nearby.

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Outside the building, among other bystanders, was a man who seemed very confused and scared, who kept asking for water. The cop let the man upstairs, gave him water, and left him with his wife and in-laws while he went back downstairs to help search for the other attacker. 

Only minutes later when he saw police arrested the second attacker, did he notice that he was dressed just like the mystery man who he let into his apartment. The cop then put two and two together, realized his mistake, and rushed back to his apartment, police said. 

He then managed to overpower the man.

To make matters worse for the officer, as other police entered the apartment with guns drawn, he told one of them that the situation was under control, and as one of the officers holstered his pistol, an errant round went off, which injured the police officer who had let the terrorist into his apartment. 

Police would give no details about the officer's rank or how long he has worked for the police. They said they are not pursuing an internal investigation against him.