VIDEO: Police shoot dead youth holding knife
Police claim Khair Hamdan (22) from town in lower Galilee was shot to death after he attempted to stab officer; Video obtained by Ynet shows Hamdan approached police car, hit windshield with knife.
The footage, however, shows Hamdan approaching the police car in which there were four police officers, and hitting the windshield of the car with a knife he was holding in his hand. Several officers are then shown stepping out of the vehicle, after which Hamdan quickly moved backwards.
VIDEO WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT – Watch video from shooting below:
A statement issued by the police said that Hamdan "attempted to stab police officers during the arrest of one of the residents. This is the reason he was shot. We are continuing to investigate the incident."
According to police, Hamdan was shot dead after he attempted to stab one of the officers on Saturday night. The officers, who arrived at the town to arrest a different person, fired warning shots in the air, and said that after feeling that their lives were threatened, shot Hamdan, wounding him in his upper body.
Moshe Weizman, Superintendent of the North District Police said that "Nazareth police forces arrested a suspect who attempted to throw a stun grenade…when suddenly they were attacked by another man at the age of 20, who was holding a drawn knife."
Weizman added that "the forces fired in the air in response and upon feeling that their lives were being threatened, they opened fire at the young man. Large police forces from Nazareth station and other forces from the district are at the scene of the incident."
Members of Hamdan's family say they are furious over the conduct of the police. "The security cameras clearly show that there was no danger to the lives of the officers," the family told Ynet. "The video shows him running away from the officers; this horrifying incident could have been avoided, but unfortunately they decided to kill him in a cruel way."
The Hamdan family further said that "we hope that police stops these officers and punishes them, since they killed a man for no justifiable reason."
The local council in Kafr Kanna held an urgent meeting with council members and distinguished officials from the city, and a large demonstration is said to have been arranged. The officials announced a general strike in the village on Saturday.
Meanwhile. hundreds of local youths spread out across the town, burned tires and blocked roads for traffic. They threatened to continue blocking the roads until all the officers responsible for the shooting of Hamdan are arrested. "We won't forgive the police and will not pass over this in silence," one of the youths at the area said.
According to him, Hamdan "did not attempt to stab them as the officers claimed. They decided to shoot him without having a good reason." He added that "if the role of the police is to shoot us, they should be defined as criminals and not as officers. We don't want officers of this kind here," the youth said.
Some 100 youths threw stones at officers near the Beit Rimon Junction earlier Saturday. Special police forces are at the scene and are attempting to prevent further stone-throwing events.
Following the incident, the police decided to station police cars at the entrance of the town.
A resident of the town told Ynet: "We don't know why the officers opened fire, but luckily, others were not wounded." He added that in his opinion, "the incident could have been resolved without gunfire," and said that one of the nearby houses had been damaged as a result of the shooting.
