A Palestinian terrorist who killed a police officer and a 60-year-old woman, and injured several others, Sunday morning in a shooting rattack in Jerusalem, was supposed to have started a jail sentence on the same day.

The attack took place near a police station next to the Ammunition Hill light rail station.

According to a police report released shortly after the attack, the terrorist opened fire from within his vehicle on people standing by the station situated opposite police headquarters.

The terrorist—identified as 39-year-old Mousabah Abu Sabih from the East Jerusalem neigborhood of Silwan and a full Israeli citizen—then fled the scene, continuing his rampage as he shot two people sitting in their car.

He then proceeded in the direction of Tomb of Simeon the Just in Sheikh Jarrah where he stopped his vehicle and began shooting at riot police pursuing him on motorbikes.

One of the officers was critically injured during the shootout and died from his wounds shortly thereafter. Another policeman was also lightly wounded in the fire exchange. Israel Border Police spotted the terrorist before shooting him dead.

Israel’s Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, who arrived at the scene, told the press that there was no forewarning for this attack. “But we have said the whole time that because of the increase in the amount of incitement many will plan lone-wolf attacks,” he added.

He attributed responsibility for the attack to Facebook. “In my opinion, Facebook and other social media sites bear direct responsibility. It was two or three weeks ago that Facebook reopened Hamas's pages following Palestinian public pressure. In my eyes, it's scandalous."

"I don't necessarily draw a connection between this and the current attack," the minister clarified.

In 2013, the gunman was indicted for assaulting a police officer in Jerusalem’s Old City. The case was dropped that year, but it was reopened in 2015.

The East Jerusalem resident was convicted and sentenced to four months in prison, beginning in October 2016.

In an interview with Ma’an news on Saturday, the terrorist said he planned to arrive at Ramle prison in central Israel at 10 a.m. on Sunday — the same time his deadly shooting spree began.

He was apparently well known to police. He had been picked up and released five times over the past two weeks and banned from entering East Jerusalem for one month.

The gunman had previously served time in an Israeli prison, from July to December 2015, for charges of incitement.

Israel’s Channel 10 said that the attacker was recently indicted on 15 counts of incitement to violence, and seven counts of supporting a terror organization for posts on Facebook.

In a video shot at a party welcoming him home from prison, some revelers can be seen waving flags of the Hamas terrorist group.

Hamas claimed he was a member of the organization after his deadly attack.

He was also apparently connected to the Murabitun group, an Islamic Movement organization that hassles non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.