Because the bus stop had been targeted by assailants in the past, the bus stop was heavily guarded.[10] Two Border Police patrolmen, who were securing the site,[2] chased the suspect to try to stop him, but the suicide bomber managed to run past them[11][12][13] straight into the middle of a crowd of people waiting for the bus in one of the busiest bus stops in Israel.[2] The suicide bomber detonated the explosive device that he was holding in a bag,[14] killing seven people. About 50 additional people were injured from the force of the blast and by shrapnel that was packed around the explosive device.