The central district attorney is set to serve an indictment, pending a hearing, against Omri Abo, who was then in the Border Police, on charges of negligent manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 10-year-old Ahmad Musa in the village of Naalin 18 months ago.
The incident took place on Tuesday, July 29, 2008, around 6 P.M. during a demonstration against the construction of the separation fence. Some 100 people, half of them children and teenagers under 19, marched toward the building site. The working day had ended by that time, and there were no workers or security forces at the site.
According to testimonies collected by the human rights organization B'Tselem, several minutes after the demonstrators reached the construction site, a Border Police vehicle appeared, with one of the men hopping out and throwing a gas grenade at the crowd. Meanwhile, the driver also got out of the vehicle and allegedly aimed his weapon at protesters scattered in a nearby olive grove. According to B'Tselem, the driver fired at least one live bullet at the protesters. Ten-year-old Ahmad Musa was allegedly struck and killed on the spot.
At the time, the IDF spokesman said that GOC Central Command Major-General Gadi Shamni ordered an investigation, while the head of the Civil Administration, Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, coordinated a join Palestinian-Israeli medical inquiry.
The police meanwhile also opened an investigation, following a request by B'Tselem and Yesh Din. Live fire incidents involving the Border Police are investigated by the local police, rather than the Justice Ministry's department for the investigation of police officers. In his questioning by police, Omri Abo said he fired two shots into the air to scare the protesters. He also said his vehicle came under attack by stones, and his testimony was backed by that of another Border Police officer, who also testified Abo shot in the air.
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