Beersheba man nabbed for attacking security guard, stealing gun

Police arrested a young Bedouin man Thursday after he attacked a security guard and stole his pistol in Beersheba on Thursday morning, in what police say may have been an attempted terror attack.

The suspect, who was in his 20s, approached the security guard in the Gimel neighborhood of the southern Israeli city and “violently attacked” him in order to steal his weapon, police said.

There was no immediate report on the guard’s condition.

The suspect fled the scene with the pistol, sparking a police manhunt.

A short while later, a group of detectives searching the area surrounding the nearby One shopping center spotted a young man “walking in a suspicious way.”

The officers “ordered him to stop, but he took off running,” police said.

After a chase, the detectives arrested the suspect and found a pistol “with bloodstains on it” in his pocket.

The man was brought to a Beersheba police station for further questioning, police said.

It was not immediately clear if the suspect intended to use the gun for a terror attack or for criminal purposes, police said.

“At this stage, all possibilities are being investigated,” a police spokesperson said.