Bullet hole in Nof Tzion apartment window, Photo credit: Shai Rozen, Tatzpit News Agency
Tuesday, July 8, 2014, 11:39 Very early in the morning on Tuesday, July 8 in the Nof Tzion neighborhood of Jerusalem terrorists opened fire in a drive-by shooting on Jewish houses and two security guards, the security officer of Nof Tzion and another resident of the neighborhood who was on duty with him. The guards determined that their lives were endangered. The security officer fired a few shots in the air response and then summoned the police. The security officer did not attempt to pursue and stop the terrorists.
It was only after many repeated requests by the security officer and other residents and after more than 20 minutes had passed that the police arrived on the scene. To the astonishment of the security officer, who served in an elite IDF unit, is married and has children, the policemen informed him that he was being taken in for interrogation on suspicion of discharging a weapon within city limits. The security officer was taken to the police station where he was interrogated and taken into remand.
On the morning of Tuesday, July 8 the security officer was taken to the Jerusalem Magistrate Court for a deliberation. The police requested a remand extension of six days in order to facilitate investigation. Honenu attorney Adi Kedar, who is representing the security officer, intervened and by agreement with the police he was conditionally released on bail.
“The Israeli Police failed in their handling of the incident,” said Kedar. “My client served in an elite army unit, has a family, has no criminal record and acted as required by the situation, according to the law and what was expected of him when shots were fired at him from a passing car and he felt an immediate danger to his life. Unfortunately the police, who were slow in arriving on the scene of the incident, chose to detain the victim and not the terrorists who attacked Jewish homes and my client. The police by their decisions are abandoning the security of Israeli citizens and assisting the terrorists and law-breakers in continuing the terror.”