The security guard who shot dead Doron Ben-Shlush, 46, near
the Western Wall in Jerusalem was silent in his interrogation and refused to
give his own version of events - so was revealed in his remand hearing on
Friday in the city's Magistrate's Court.
The man is suspected of murder, and the judge remanded him
until Tuesday.
His Lawyer said in court that his client is "a new security
guard, who doesn't know everyone." But the judge insisted on the
seriousness of the event which "culminated in the death of a man."
The incident occurred
at around 7:40 am as hundreds of worshippers prayed at the Western Wall Plaza.
Aside from the man who was shot, no one else was hurt.
Magen David Adom forces were rushed to the scene but were
forced to pronounce the man dead after trying unsuccessfully to resuscitate him
for 20 minutes.
The suspect's lawyer said in court that his client served
with distinction in the IDF. According to him, "he is the salt of the
earth, and was a candidate for a sensitive position."
The police
representative confirmed in the hearing that the security guard has no prior
criminal records, and added that several other security guards were at the
scene when the event transpired.
Regarding the victim, the police representative said they are
unaware of anything unusual in his background.
Fellow residents from the suspect's town voiced their
surprise with their neighbor's involvement in the affair. "He is a
wonderful man, that no one can comprehend what happened and what made him
shoot," an acquaintance of the suspect told Ynet.
"He has good relations with anyone who knows him and
we've never heard anything bad about him, nothing but good stories."
A Resident of the Old City in Jerusalem who knew the victim,
Doron Ben Shlush, originally from Hadera, said: "The security guard should
have first shot in the air, even if the guy was crazy he should have shot his
foot, not straight at the chest.
"He made a mistake by shooting him with so many
bullets, I don't understand why he shot him with 10 bullets.
"He doesn't do anything. Why didn't the security guard
stop after one bullet? I'm so sorry for him."
Another person who knew the victim said he was homeless and
slept in the street.
"He had a bag with clothes and a mattress on which he slept
and that was his home. Despite that, he was a cleanly and orderly person,"
said the man.
Victim's family
"Wed don't understand why he didn't shoot his legs, why
did he shoot his body? Why did he shoot him with 10 bullets?" Eleonora,
Ben-Shlush's daughter, and his former wife Annie Lor Rekry wondered.
Rekry said she met Ben-Shlush in France, where they were
married, and where their daughter Eleonora was born.
"He was an Israeli who visited France regularly, and we
worked there in rebuilding defunct companies. Doron was a good guy, who liked
helping others," she said.
According to her, though they divorced later on, they kept
meeting often and she and their daughter immigrated to Israel.
"Though we were separated, we shared a great love.
Doron was a well known figure in Jerusalem, and especially in the Kotel. Every
time we met in Jerusalem we went to the Kotel and we never had to go through a
security check, since everyone knew him, even the guards."
She added: "Doron resided in the Chabad House and
always preached that everyone should live in peace, even Jews and Arabs, and
there mustn't be war.
"Most importantly – he preached that everyone is human
and shouldn't harm one another."
His daughter said that since she found out of her father's
death, she hasn't stopped crying. "I was in good relations with him, I
visited him in Jerusalem. A month ago we talked and he said everything is fine.
He promised to visit me. We can't believe it, it's really hard."
Other than his daughter, Ben-Shlush is survived by a brother
and two sisters, two of them live in France and one in Beersheba. His mother
resides in Hadera.
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