Jewish Israeli man shot dead at Western Wall

JERUSALEM — A security guard shot and killed an unarmed Jewish-Israeli man early Friday near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. 

The shooting occured around 7:30am, when worshippers were attending morning prayers, Israeli police spokesman, Mickey Rosenfeld, said. 

The 25-year-old security guard who fired the shots is being held on suspicion of murder, according to the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz. 

Security guards working for a private company saw a man reaching into his pockets "in the bathroom area" of the plaza adjacent to the Western Wall tunnels, Rosenfeld said. 

The man, later identified as Doron Ben Shloush, called out "Allah hu akbar" ("God is great," in Arabic), and the guards "pulled out their weapons and shot him a number of times."

The man, 46, died of his wounds on the scene. His name has not been released.

Israel Police launched an immediate investigation into the incident, Rosenfeld informed GlobalPost, "including the actions of the guards and if the man had been behaving in any particular way."

A security guard has since been arrested after interrogation at the scene. He was denied bail through the weekend pending further investigation. 

The man's body was being removed from the premises of Judaism's most holy site about three hours after the shooting.

Rosenfeld said "no weapon, nothing" was found on him.

No one else was reported hurt in the incident.

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