A Jewish man visiting Jerusalem's Western Wall on Friday was mistakenly shot by an Israel security guard who mistook him for a Palestinian.

Israeli public radio reported that officials were making plans to put the guard in jail and that the situation was being investigated by police, according to the Agence France Presse.

Micky Rosenfeld, spokesperson for the country's police force, claimed that the officer in question would be put in front of a magistrate, but did not provide AFP with more details.

"There was a Jewish guy, an Israeli guy, who was in the bathroom area," Rosenfeld said. "He, for some reason, shouted, 'Allahu Akbar.' A security guard drew his weapon and fired several shots at the suspect...He died from his wounds a few moments ago."

The killing took place at around 8 a.m. local time, as Jewish people filed in to worship at the Wall before the beginning of the Sabbath. The security guard said that he fired shots because he thought the man's proclamation, ("God is great,") meant that he was Palestinian.

In fact, the man was a volunteer at a nearby soup kitchen sponsored by Hassidic Jews.

"He's a regular here, well-known," David Dahan told AFP. "He's on his own here, his parents are in France."

The Wailing Wall subsequently closed down for almost two hours after the event.

Public radio reported that the security guard thought that the 46-year-old deceased man pulled something out of his pocket while he shouted, and that he was preparing to attack him.

One paramedic who was called to the scene named Zeevi Hessed told Israeli media outlet NRG that his team could do very little once reports that a man had been shot rolled in.

"When we reached the place, we saw him lying at the Western Wall plaza," he said. "He had been shot in several parts of his body...Sadly there was nothing we could do but declare him dead."

Rosenfeld claimed the situation was still a bit hazy.

"We're looking into the background; why the security officer opened fire and what the motives were of the guy, the 46-year-old-it's very strange behavior."

Shmuel Rabinovitch, The Western Wall's rabbi, told Israeli news site Ynet, "Regardless of the circumstances, such a case is a terrible tragedy."

In the past few weeks, Palestinian-Israeli relations have been strained by the proposed building of houses in East Jerusalem that, some say, are meant to drive out Palestinians who live in the area.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu publicly stated that it will not accept Palestine as a free state under any circumstances.

Secretary of State John Kerry has been working to cajole the two nations into peace talks, to little avail.