Incident in Jerusalem
Photo: Noam Moskowitz
Body of Palestinian who ran over police to be autopsied
Corpse of Ziad Jilani, who injured four policemen in east Jerusalem, exhumed at family's behest, will be transferred to forensic institute for autopsy. Police investigation unit examining response of Border Guard officers who shot him dead
Following a request from his family, the body of Ziad Jilani, from the east Jerusalem neighborhood Wadi Joz, was exhumed and will be transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in order to examine the gunshot wounds that killed him after Jilani ran over and lightly wounded four policemen in east Jerusalem.
The court accepted the family's request. The internal police investigation unit said that it does not have any opposition to exhuming and autopsying the body. In the meantime, the internal police investigation unit is continuing its investigation against the Border Guard officers who claim to have opened fire out of self-defense against a terrorist trying to mow them over with his car.
The internal police investigation unit noted that the autopsy results will be taken into consideration along with the rest of the investigation's findings, and an ultimate decision will be made as to whether the officers acted properly or they unjustifiably opened fire on Jilani.
Jilani's family claims that Ziad was rushing a wounded friend to the hospital, which perhaps caused him to hit a number of officers by accident. His car was pelted with stones just moments before the incident.
The driver had four previous cases against him for violence and threats, one of which remained open. Signs of Jilani have been hung throughout his family home, with the title "shahid" under his picture. According to defense officials, evidence indicates that Jilani had intentions to carry out a terrorist attack.
Four police officers were lightly wounded in the incident. One of them, Shai Hazan, recounted the development of the events. "All of a sudden, he stepped on the gas pedal and accelerated while throwing me and my unit-mates aside. He gored us. I flew back from the force of the blow. After that, everything was blurry," he said.
