Police face questions in bombing

A police official defended the officers' actions.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Four police officers, guns drawn, ran after a tall, fair-haired man hurrying toward the crowded entrance of a shopping mall, his hand suspiciously thrust inside a bulging bag.
After he blew himself up and killed five Israelis on Monday, the police themselves faced tough questions: Did they foul up by not firing, or did they do the right thing by not shooting in a crowded area or risking mistaking an innocent man for a suicide bomber?
Israeli media questioned the conduct of the security forces, with the banner headline Tuesday of the mass-circulation Yediot Ahronot daily declaring in outsize letters, "OUR FAILURE."
Security measures
After more than 100 suicide bombings over the past five years, Israel has honed methods for recognizing and preventing such attacks. The public is savvy about how to spot suspicious objects, including looking for people who, like Monday's bomber, look nervous, and wear bulky clothing or carry bags to conceal explosives.
Israel also is a world leader in securing malls, requiring motorists to open their trunks when entering parking garages and installing walk-through metal detectors and guards with metal-detecting wands at the entrances.
Despite such measures, security ultimately depends on human decisions -- raising the risk of getting things wrong.
"In any life-threatening situation, police officers are allowed to open fire, obviously taking into account the surrounding situation, whether there are civilians around, " police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, adding that there are no "shoot-to-kill" orders.
What happened
The problem is how to define "life-threatening." In the complicated circumstances that developed within seconds Monday, police knew there was a good possibility Lotfi Abu Saada, a 23-year-old Palestinian, was carrying a bomb. The young man was spotted wearing a thick sweat shirt on a warm day and walking quickly with his hand inside a bag.
Policewoman Shoshana Attia even shouted, "Terrorist! Terrorist! Take his hand out of the bag!" as she ran toward him, prompting bystanders to scatter.
Attia told Israeli media there were too many people near the entrance to the Sharon Mall in the coastal city of Netanya to open fire. "If I had a chance, I would have shot him," the pregnant policewoman told Israeli TV on Monday from a hospital where she was treated for minor injuries.
Deputy district commander Aharon Franco defended the officers' actions.
"You have to understand we're talking about a walking bomb, and that the terrorist was the one in control," Franco told Army Radio. "The policewoman took all the risk upon herself and ran toward him to try to isolate him, and perhaps prevent him from activating the bomb. ... Any gunfire could have hurt the civilians, too, and the guard."
A mall security guard, who pushed the attacker away from the crowd and against a wall, was among those killed Monday, along with four civilians.
Innocent persons
Despite the multitude of terror attacks in Israel, police are always dogged by the fear of shooting an innocent person, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said.
In July, British undercover officers fatally shot a Brazilian electrician in the head in the London Underground, suspecting the young man, who was wearing a bulky coat, was a suicide attacker. The shooting occurred a day after four failed attempts to bomb London's transport system, and two weeks after four bombers killed 52 bus and subway passengers.
Israeli security forces have also mistakenly identified people as militants, with deadly results. Several years ago, an Israeli soldier shot and wounded a deaf Israeli bus passenger he suspected was a Palestinian suicide bomber.
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