Policewoman shot, seriously injured by mentally ill man barricaded in his home
Emergency services broke down door at shooter’s home after receiving reports that he was suicidal
A mentally ill man shot and seriously wounded a policewoman in Jerusalem on Thursday when she accompanied rescue services into his apartment following reports that he presented a danger to himself. The shooter was arrested.
The man, who barricaded himself in his home for days without eating or drinking, was known to be armed with a gun for which he had been issued a license. Ynet reported that police arrived at his home after receiving reports that he was suicidal.
According to reports from the scene, the man opened fire at the firefighters and the policewoman as soon as they broke down the door, missing the rescuers but hitting the policewoman in the head. Firefighters were lightly wounded by shrapnel.
United Hatzalah medic Yaakov Morgenvaser, who was at the scene, told Kan news that the emergency services had tried to negotiate with the man for a few minutes and had tried to reach him with a ladder before a police officer at the scene decided to break down the door.
“I was going up to the apartment to treat a person, not knowing what was wrong with him, when I heard a gunshot, and the policewoman, 30 meters from me, fell down with a bullet to her head. We thought it was over as we took the policewoman downstairs, and then we heard more gunshots and didn’t know what happened. It took a lot of force to overpower the shooter,” he said.
Another unnamed paramedic told Ynet that the policewoman had volunteered to go up to the apartment instead of another officer at the scene because he was getting married next month.
The 25-year-old policewoman was evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center Ein Kerem.
Police Jerusalem District Commander Nizav Amir Arzani arrived at the scene and an investigation was launched into the incident.
The shooter’s neighbor, who was not named, told Walla that he was an “eccentric man.”
“He always walked around with his gun, but we didn’t think it was weird or unusual,” she said.
