Cops Shoot Syrian Teen In Heart For Breaking Lockdown

This is the moment paramedics perform CPR on the motionless body of this Syrian teenager reportedly shot in the heart by Turkish police after breaking coronavirus lockdown regulations.

The shocking incident took place in the Seyhan district of the southern Turkish city of Adana when 17-year-old Ali al-Hamdan reportedly ignored police warnings to go home during the country’s coronavirus lockdown.

Reports state the teenager was on his way to work to be able to get by when the police reportedly warned him he must go home. He reportedly ran away from the officers to avoid receiving a potential fine which he could not afford.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Credit: Newsflash/@TaylanKulacogIu

The Adana Governor’s Office said that the teenager was then “accidentally” wounded when a police officer fired a warning shot into the air. Reports state that Hamdan was shot in the heart.

In the video, paramedics can be seen lifting his lifeless body onto a stretcher as one of them performs CPR on his chest.

He is then taken into an ambulance and the governor’s office confirmed he died in a hospital.

The officer said the police officer involved had been suspended with a “legal and administrative investigation into the case is ongoing”.

The cop, who has not been named in reports, was reportedly arrested on 28th April.

The incident has caused outrage on social media with opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) MP Mahir Polat writing online: “It is not enough to suspend the police officer who shot 17-year-old Ali for not responding to the ‘stop’ warning. This is an organised crime.”

The opposition also slammed the fact that the first police statement claimed the teenager had been shot in the leg, not the heart.

Turkey’s lockdown allows residents under the age of 20 with a job to leave their homes, but they need documentation and proof of employment, something the majority of Syrian refugees do not have.

Can Isal, a lawyer for the refugee relief organisation Support to Life, based in Istanbul, told local media: “Economically, refugees are facing higher risk than Turkish citizens. The first reason for that is most of them are unregistered wage earners, thus they are laid off more easily than those who work legally.”


To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Alex CopeSub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

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