School guard kills `suspicious' repairman

The Dan region police are investigating the death of Alon Nakar, 36, of Bnei Brak, an air-conditioning repairman who got into an argument yesterday with a school guard who fatally shot him.

Gunshots were heard yesterday afternoon near the Kehilot Yaakov school in Bnei Brak. Police and the Magen David Adom arrived to find the air-conditioning technician, who had come to make a repair, mortally wounded from several bullets. Nakar died of his wounds in hospital.

Investigators found that Nakar arrived when the girls were leaving school. The security guard, only two months on the job, asked the technician for an ID and an argument ensued, leading to a verbal and physical confrontation. At one point the guard allegedly cocked his pistol and shot at the technician, and Nakar tried to escape, but the guard reportedly chased him and continued to shoot. A teacher testified she had yelled, "Don't shoot, don't shoot", to no avail.

After the technician refused to show his ID, the guard said, he was convinced the technician was a terrorist and shot him. The police doubt this version of events, and the guard may face manslaughter charges. Lieutenant Colonel Alon Grossman, head of investigations for the Dan region, said, "This is a sad and difficult incident. The guard has worked in his profession for years, but seems to have used poor judgment this time."

A senior security professional said yesterday that such a shooting by a school guard was a foreseeable problem. "This field is completely unregulated. Security companies are hired based on connections, not quality. Many guards are low-caliber, most are old and nearly all lack combat experience in using a weapon." He added: "This case is a classic example of a guard who fixated on a target without thinking and without following procedures for opening fire."

	Students from the Kehilot Yaakov school in Bnei Brak at the scene of yesterday's fatal shooting.
	Photo by: Motti Kimche