By JPOST.COM STAFF
A Palestinian shepherd was apparently wrongly suspected of trying to seize a Gush Etzion security guard's weapon in the afternoon, Army Radio reported Tuesday evening.
Initial investigation of the incident suggested that the security officer, who was on a routine patrol around the settlement of Bat Ayin, accidentally fired shots during a confrontation with 2 Palestinian men, and not as a response to an alleged attempt to steal his weapons.
One of the men was lightly-to-moderately wounded as a result.
IDF and police forces continued their investigation.
On Tuesday afternoon, Danny Dayan, who heads the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, told Army Radio that there was "no doubt that in recent weeks we've been feeling a definite deterioration in the security situation."
The incident came less than a week after Meir Chai, a father of seven, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting attack near the northern Samaria settlement of Shavei Shomron.
Chai was the fourth terror victim in the West Bank in 2009. In March, two policemen were shot dead in the Jordan Valley and in April, 13-year-old Shlomo Nativ was stabbed to death near his home in the Gush Etzion settlement of Bat Ayin.
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report
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