An IDF soldier who fired on Arabs Friday night was released from police custody on Saturday night, and will remain under house arrest until September 21. The release comes after police determined that the soldier fired in self-defense, after he and a friend were attacked by a gang of Arabs at a parking lot outside the Old City of Jerusalem.
On Friday afternoon, shortly before the Sabbath began, the soldier shot two Arabs, wounding them lightly. He was arrested by police near the Kotel (Western Wall). He told investigators that he had fired in self-defense while being attacked by six people in the Givati parking garage.
The soldier told police that he first shot into the air, but the gang kept advancing, forcing him to shoot at the lower portion of his attackers' bodies in order to disable them.
The two wounded Arabs, ages 40 and 14, were residents of the Ir David neighborhood. After the incident, Arabs rioted in Ir David, throwing stones at police and at the homes of Jewish residents of the neighborhood. One Arab resident was injured in the riot.
On Saturday night, police said that they had accepted the soldier's version of the incident. Police said they had located security tapes which back up the Jewish shooter's statement.