Panic in Hadera: Soldiers shot in the air at fleeing suspect

A Holon resident struggling with mental illness raised the suspicion of an army officer and two soldiers during a bus ride on Sunday.

He did not respond to their request to identify himself and started running towards the large shopping complex in Hadera - in response, the soldiers started chasing him and even shot in the air.

At the end of the chase, the police arrested the suspect.

The 33-year-old Jewish suspect wore a headscarf and was traveling by bus from Tel Aviv heading north. He got off at the Givat Olga interchange and started running towards a shopping area.

One of the soldiers managed to catch him and keep him under control until the police arrived.

The incident and the sounds of gunfire caused great panic in the crowded shopping complex, located on Hadera's main street going from east to west.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Repeated shootings of mentally unstable people

In the past, Israel Police and the IDF have repeatedly been criticized for incidents in which mentally unstable people were shot. 

In a recent incident in November last year, an Israeli soldier shot and killed a man at a bus station in Ra'anana after he approached him, claiming that a terrorist attack was occurring and that someone was stabbed. Before being shot by the soldier, the man had tried to stab two people with a knife.

Afterward an Israel Police investigation was carried out to understand why the soldier shot a burst of gunfire at the man, and if the shooting was carried out according to procedures.

The Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this story.