Suspicion: Issawiyeh shooting unjustified

It is suspected that Wednesday’s shooting death of a Palestinian in the village of Issawiyeh, located north of Jerusalem, was unjustified, a senior official told Ynet.

The suspicion arose after an autopsy of Samir Dari’s body found that the bullet fired from a police officer’s gun entered through the Palestinian’s back and exited above his heart.

The shooting officer has not been suspended as of yet, but an indictment will apparently be filed against him.

'Dari did not pose a threat'

Dari, a resident of Issawiyeh, was shot and killed by a police officer Wednesday during a chase after a car thief in the entrance to Jerusalem’s French Hill neighborhood. Palestinian riots ensued, but on Thursday the Issawiyeh remained peaceful.

Police claim that Dari drove at high speed in the direction of a police cruiser with the intension of hitting a policeman. A policeman was in fact lightly injured, yet managed to fire two shots at Samir, who suffered serious wounds and later died at Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital.

Following the incident, the Police Investigation Unit launched an inquiry to determine whether the use of live fire was justified. Palestinian eyewitnesses, however, said Dari did not pose a threat to the policemen, and the proof to that is that he was shot in the back, confirming earlier claims that he had his back to the officers when the shots were fired.

“I arrived to the petrol station a couple of minutes after the squabble over the burglary. We stood by the station and Dari was shot in the back. They took him to hospital, we went to check what was happening and they told us he is dead. We are waiting for them to finish checking the body so we can burry him before dusk,” Abu Jamil told Ynet following the incident.

'No one touched him'

According to Abu Jamil, Wafa, Dari’s wife is speechless.

“Dari was a nice man, he kept away from trouble. He was quiet and he was shot for no reason. He heard his brother was being arrested and went to check what was happening - then he was shot in the back,” said Abu Jamil. Dari left behind two children aged 7 and 6.

Another villager said that Dari owned a small transportation business and had a number of employees from the village. He was on his way to the village when he saw a number of villagers, including his brother, and policemen at the entrance to the village.

“He saw that one of these people was his brother, and when he got closer a policeman told him ‘stop and raise your hands.’ He did, and the policeman shot him a short while later. He fell on the floor,” Atef Abid of Issawiyeh told Ynet.

Abid said Samir lied on the floor for 20 minutes “and no one touched him.”

He added that the police should keep out of the village if the authorities want to avoid riots. “We will not make trouble if the police doesn’t enter and look for trouble,” he said.

Asked if the family has faith in the credibility of the police autopsy, Abu Jamil said “we have a doctor of our own, we trust him and we will see what he’ll say.”

According to police, a number of villagers were helping the burglar, Samir’s brother, to roll the stolen car over a slope into the village, when a car drove in at high speed in the direction of the police officers. Samir, who was the driver, hit a policeman who then fired in self-defense, police said.