By YAAKOV LAPPINbeersheba mall shooting(photo credit: Channel 1)
A Beduin IDF soldier from the Special Desert Patrol was shot dead by a second Beduin soldier from his unit on Sunday in a Beersheba
shopping center, causing panic among shoppers.
Eye witnesses said the two men, said to be in their 20s, got into an argument over a minor issue, which quickly deteriorated into a
shooting incident. Three shots were fired at the victim, police said.
He was rushed to Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, and declared dead on arrival.
Police have arrested the shooter.
"An officer on patrol arrived on the scene half a minute after the incident and made the arrest," Southern Police District chief, Cmdr. Yohanan Danino, said. "The suspect could not have escaped even if wanted to," he added.
Since the shooting, police in Rahat, where the soldiers hail from, have beefed up their security in an effort to stave off a vendetta attack by the family of the slain soldier.
"This is a possibility we must take into account, and prepare for," Negev Police Spokesman Tamir Abatbi told The Jerusalem Post.
Following the shooting, Rahat Mayor Faiz Abu-Sabihan has reportedly asked IDF OC Southern Command Yoav Galant to ban Beduin soldiers from
bringing their weapons home on leave.
