Uncle of the toddler killed by stray gunfire: "The bullets flew in front of his head, more children could have been killed"

Amer, 3, went to play with his cousin in the playground - and was shot dead in front of his family.

"He got a bullet from someone who fired bundles at a truck," the victim's uncle said.

Two were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the shooting that led to the toddler's death

Eli Ashkenazi and Yoav Itiel

06/01/2022

Thursday, 06 January 2022, 16:58 Updated: 17:41

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In the video: A 3-year-old was seriously injured in a playground in the Lower Galilee, suspected of being hit by a stray ball (without)

The uncle of the toddler who was killed in the playground told Walla! About the moment of the disaster, in which his nephew was killed by stray gunfire in front of his family. "My brother's daughter said there was a disaster, Amer got a bullet from someone who fired bundles at a truck," described the uncle, Taher Hujirat. "The bullets flew over their heads. It could have been an even heavier disaster."

Amer's cousin, Taher's son, played with the toddler moments before he was shot to death. "He said Amer had blood coming from his neck, that he was lying down and not talking," his father said. "My brother's wife shouted at them, 'What are you doing, what are you shooting?'".

Meanwhile, the police investigation is ongoing, and two 34- and 35-year-olds were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the toddler's death. "This is a shocking incident of a toddler being hit by gunfire from criminals who use weapons so lightly, with no respect for human life and causing such a terrible tragedy," police said. "Northern District Police are working daily to get the weapons and criminals off the streets,And everything is being done to reach the shooters, even in this painful case. "

More on Walla!

A 3-year-old man was killed by a stray bullet in a playground in the Lower Galilee

To the full article

Amer Hujirat, 3 years old killed today (Photo: courtesy of the family)

The toddler was hit by gunfire from an unknown person traveling in a vehicle about 300 meters from the playground. According to eyewitnesses who were present at the playground, two masked men got out of a white jeep that arrived at a nearby construction site and opened fire at an engineering tool that was working at the site. Eyewitnesses present at the playground said they suddenly saw him fall. Police were called to the scene and began scanning and gathering evidence from the scene.

Ulla Najmi Yosef, director of "Safe Communities" at the Avraham Initiatives Association, said that "the heart goes out to the family of the three-year-old toddler who was shot to death in the middle of the day, and apart from condolences there are no words in the face of this horror. Of personal security in Arab localities and neighborhoods. "

"The bullet that hit the child is not a stray bullet," she stressed, "but a bullet intended to kill someone else. This shooting had to be prevented, and in order for such cases not to happen again one must get rid of all the illegal weapons."

According to data from the organization Prior to Child Safety, since 2016, nine children have been killed as a result of stray gunfire.

Eight of the dead from Arab society, one Druze and three Bedouin.

The data also show that in those years 105 children came to the emergency rooms as a result of a weapon injury.

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