An officer was killed early Sunday after a Palestinian teen ran over the cop at a checkpoint in central Israel, police said.
The officer, 29, was named as Major Barak Meshulam, a father of two small children who resided in the central city of Kfar Saba.
According to the police, the 29-year-old officer, a Kfar Saba resident, was found laying unresponsive on the crosswalk, while the vehicle allegedly involved in the hit-and-run was left abandoned on the other side of the street.
The Israel Police said forces were in pursuit of the 17-year-old Ramallah resident after receiving a report that he had stolen a car from the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area.
During the chase, he hit the police officer standing at the checkpoint separating Kfar Saba and Ra'anana, and then fled by foot.
Shortly after the deadly incident police arrived at the scene, blocked the road, and activated forces on the ground as well as search helicopters to hunt down the suspect.
The central district commander, Superintendent Avi Bitton, is in charge of the investigation by the special crime combating units to apprehend the teen.
MDA arrived at the scene at 2:19am and pronounced the death of the police officer.
"The officer suffered from a very severe multi-systemic injury and was unconscious," said one of the paramedics. "We carried out medical tests, but he had no signs of life and we had no choice but to determine his death."
Police officers who worked with Meshulam said: "Until we don't have permission to shoot in cases like this, cops will continue to get hurt and die."
The incident came a month after Amichai Carmeli, a police volunteer, was run over and killed by residents of the Bedouin city of Rahat, who broke through a checkpoint while intoxicated.