A border policeman committed suicide Tuesday afternoon in the middle of a farewell ceremony in honor of French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Ben Gurion International Airport. A Magen David Adom paramedic crew unsuccessfully attempted to revive the policeman, who sustained severe injuries from the bullet. "We are carrying out a preliminary investigation at this time," a Border Police spokesman said. "We will release more details after our check and after we speak to the policeman's family," he added.
Police spokesman Shlomi Sagi confirmed that the border policeman committed suicide just as Sarkozy was about to board his plane. Another police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, denied reports that there had been an assassination attempt on the French leader. A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said that the circumstances of the incident were under investigation.
In attendance at the ceremony were Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President Shimon Peres and other state dignitaries, Israel Radio reported.
Initially, the prime minister's security personnel drew their handguns and rushed Olmert and Peres to bullet-proof cars, while Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy were rushed to the French president's plane. When the incident ended, Olmert and Peres boarded Sarkozy's plane to inform the French president what had transpired and to bid him farewell.
It was not immediately clear whether the soldier died from the impact of the fall or from the misfired bullet. |