Hayak said his son walked to the educational institute on the same route every morning and that police forces have likely seen him before. He told Channel 13 the incident occurred close to the entrance to the institute, about 100 meters away.

His mother claimed to Channel 12 that he was “killed in cold blood.”

Police have opened an investigation and two Border Police officers were questioned over the shooting.

MK Ofer Cassif of the predominantly-Arab Joint List party responded to the incident, saying that the man’s death was “murder by police” as a result of government incitement.

“The case today in Jerusalem can only be defined as murder by police,” Cassif tweeted. “The incitement from the corridors of the government has done its best and now every Palestinian is a terrorist until proven otherwise.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, whose daughter is autistic, said Halak’s death was “heartbreaking.”

“The death of a young person with special needs is heartbreaking and all of Israel bows their heads. This is not our way,” he tweeted.

In a statement on Saturday afternoon, police rebuffed the criticism made by politicians, calling them “harsh and irresponsible.”

“The roles and missions of the police forces in Jerusalem, and especially in the Old City, are particularly complex and often involve [making] complex decisions, sacrifices and life endangerment,” the police said in post on social media (Hebrew).

The police said the area has seen multiple attacks in recent years, including against officers and Border Patrol forces.

Calling the death a “rare incident,” the police said the case was immediately referred for an internal affairs investigation. “It is appropriate to wait for the results of the investigation before reaching any definitive conclusions, and to avoid the ugly slander… of those who, on a daily basis, protect the security of Israeli citizens,” the statement read.

Hebrew media reported there were concerns of protests over the young man’s death on Sunday, when the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount compound is set to reopen. It was shuttered by the Islamic Waqf along with the Dome of the Rock on March 15 in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The shooting came after Israeli troops on Friday thwarted an attempted car-ramming attack in the northern West Bank, shooting the assailant, the military said. There were no injuries to the soldiers. Hebrew media reports said the driver, a Palestinian, was killed.

There have been a number of attacks and attempted assaults on Israelis and Israel Defense Forces troops in recent weeks, with a top defense official reportedly warning of a potential wave of violence if Israel unilaterally annexes parts of the West Bank.