A 17-year-old faces murder charges in what police describe as a calculated robbery that turned deadly, claiming the life of a young Israeli locksmith in Memphis last Friday.
Aviv Broek, 21, was responding to what seemed like a routine service call on Hernando Road when he was gunned down and robbed of his work equipment, Memphis Police told The New York Post. The teen suspect, whose name is withheld due to his age, has been charged with first-degree murder during a robbery and especially aggravated robbery.
The tragedy unfolded when friends raised the alarm after Broek went silent for two hours following his arrival at the job site. A concerned friend who went searching for him made the grim discovery - Broek shot dead beside his vehicle.
"He had a kind heart and a bright future," reads a GoFundMe page set up to help return Broek's body to Israel for burial.
Police have not yet commented on whether the killing is being investigated as a hate crime. The Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed they are monitoring the case.
The murder comes on the heels of the recent killing of Israeli-Moldovan Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the United Arab Emirates - an act Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has denounced as an "antisemitic terrorist act."
