Two teens charged with reckless manslaughter over fatal shooting of friend

Magen David Adom medics attend to a 14-year-old boy who was injured apparently while playing with a gun, near Rishon Lezion, June 8, 2025. (MDA)
Magen David Adom medics attend to a 14-year-old boy who was injured apparently while playing with a gun, near Rishon Lezion, June 8, 2025. (MDA)

State prosecutors file charges against two teenage boys for reckless manslaughter after one of them accidentally shot and killed their 14-year-old friend last month.

The two defendants, ages 14 and 17, had been playing with a handgun belonging to the older boy’s father. The three gathered on June 8 after school on Rishon Lezion’s sand dunes to test the firearm.

The 14-year-old fired the gun several times and accidentally shot their friend, Uri Portal, in the chest, critically wounding him, prosecutors say.

Paramedics who took Portal to the hospital said they arrived at the scene to find him unconscious with no vital signs. He died of his wounds two days later in Holon’s Wolfson Medical Center.

The two teens were detained for questioning soon after the incident and indicted today. Prosecutors charge the pair with reckless manslaughter, illegal possession of a firearm and illegal discharge of a firearm.

Prosecutors also request the court extend the defendants’ house arrest and prohibit them from leaving the country. The minors’ identifying details are barred from publication.

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