Salomon Tekah, a 19-year-old Ethiopian Israeli was shot dead by a police officer in the Kiryat Haim area of Haifa. The outrage following his death ignited wide-scale violent riots throughout Israel leaving hundreds injured. The officer who shot him claims that he shot at the ground and the bullet accidentally ricocheted into Teka’s chest. And although police ballistics tests vindicate the officer’s version of events, two kids who witnessed the event told an entirely different story.
The youth, who the cop alleged was being “robbed” at the time of the incident, spoke to a group of protesters saying “I was sitting with Salomon in the park. All of a sudden a police officer arrived and drew a loaded gun telling us to empty out our pockets. Nothing happened. He then cocked the pistol. The officer then told us that he has a loaded gun and that he was going to shoot us. We started running, he started shooting. He missed me and shot again – this time hitting Tekah” he said.
“You were the one he was aiming for and he missed you and hit the Ethiopian (Teka)?” a protest leader clarified.
“Yes” the witness confirmed.
“And what was the reason that he drew his sidearm?” the protester asked.
“No reason, he thought that there was a robbery taking place” the witness answered.
Another eye-witness who was at the rally chimed in saying “My friend was afraid of the officer so he picked up a rock.” The second witness then confirmed that his friend’s name was ‘Ori’. “The cop then said that if he doesn’t drop the rock, he’ll get shot. He continued to hold the rock but then dropped it. Then the officer told him to empty everything out of his pockets. Salomon asked ‘why should I do that?’ Then Salomon took everything out (of his pockets). My friend ran and the policeman chased him behind a car. Suddenly I see the cop shoot Salomon.”
“Where did the bullet hit him?” another protester asked.
“In the heart” the witness replied.
Last week, BIN reported on how Ford foundation backed extreme left-wing organizations were fanning the flames of the violent Ethiopian Solidarity riots in Israel.
