Police officer probed for potential use of excessive force against teen terrorist

Officer shot 16-year-old teen who had stabbed an old man outside Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market.

By BEN HARTMAN
Updated: DECEMBER 14, 2015 03:20
Footage of stabbing attack in Jerusalem
The Justice Ministry’s Police Investigations Department on Sunday questioned a Jerusalem District police officer who shot and killed a teenage Palestinian knife attacker last month, on suspicion that he shot the victim after she no longer posed a threat, the ministry said Sunday evening.
The officer, who serves in the bomb squad, rushed to the scene of the attack on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem on November 23, and shot and killed one of the two attackers, a 16-year-old girl from east Jerusalem. The attacker’s cousin, also 16, was shot and wounded by a security guard, and on Friday was indicted on charges of attempted murder and possession of a knife.
The Justice Ministry said the investigation into the police officer’s conduct was opened following a decision made by Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein, following a recommendation made by State Attorney Shai Nitzan.
The point of the investigation is to determine whether or not the officer “fired on the terrorist after she had been neutralized and no longer posed a threat.”
The officer contends that he fired at the attacker because he assessed that she still posed a threat.
During the attack, one of the two teens stabbed and lightly wounded a 70-yearold Palestinian man from Bethlehem who they apparently mistook for a Jew. No one else was wounded by the attackers.
The officer is the first one to be investigated by the Justice Ministry for excessive use of force in the current wave of terror attacks.
In CCTV footage taken from the scene, one girl can be seen jumping and flailing at the victim with scissors, while the other is shot and then pinned by a man holding a chair. In the video footage it appears the girl pinned by the man is shot an additional time.