An off-duty security guard in a Seattle suburb in the United States has been charged with second-degree murder after allegedly fatally shooting a 17-year-old six times in the back.
According to AFP, prosecutors stated the incident occurred as the teenager and his friends were attempting to return a toy gun to a sporting goods store.
Aaron Brown Myers, 51, faces charges in King County for the death of Hazrat Ali Rohani outside a Big 5 Sporting Goods Store in Renton, Washington.
Myers is also charged with second-degree assault for reportedly holding another teen at gunpoint.
Rohani and two other teenagers were heading into the store around 7:30 PM on June 5 to return a defective airsoft gun, according to Rohani’s friends.
They walked past Myers, who was waiting in his vehicle to pick up his son from a martial arts class.
Myers claimed to have noticed one teen carrying what he believed to be a Glock handgun and thought he saw another teen tuck a firearm into his waistband.
Believing he needed to prevent an armed robbery, Myers stated that he didn’t have time to call 911 and instead exited his car, pointing his gun at the teens.
As Myers approached, one teen moved aside while the other two stopped, raised their hands, and one placed the airsoft gun on the sidewalk, repeatedly telling Myers it was a “BB gun,” not a real firearm.
Myers then allegedly pushed one of the boys to the sidewalk and straddled him, according to the probable cause document filed by Renton police.
He continued to aim his firearm at Rohani, who had his hands out in front of him, indicating they were empty.
Rohani began to back away, and Myers opened fire, hitting the teen once in the side and six times in the back.
Video footage shows Rohani clutching his abdomen and calling out for his mother as he fell to the ground.
The other teen ran for cover and called 911. Rohani died at the scene, and police immediately arrested Myers.
Myers’ attorney, Michelle Scudder, stated in an email that Myers genuinely believed he was witnessing a violent crime in progress and aimed to stop it before anyone got hurt.
“Mr Myers and his family are devastated by this tragedy and the fact that it resulted in the loss of a young man’s life,” Scudder said.
“We are confident that over the course of this investigation the evidence will show that Mr Myers’ only intent that day was to protect himself and others from serious harm or death.”
Prosecutors stated Myers believed he had a “duty to intervene.”
“The defendant failed to take the obvious step of securing the toy gun, rather than assaulting the teen who had carried it,” King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Burke said in a court filing.
Myers is being held in King County jail on $2 million bail, with a preliminary hearing set for June 24 in Kent, Washington.
“Only a high bail, electronic home detention, and surrender of all firearms will protect the community from an untrained civilian who believes he has a duty to shoot people who have not hurt anyone,” Burke said.
It remains unclear where Myers was employed as a security guard.
In March 2022, Myers had attempted to intervene in what he thought was a crime, police reported.
He called 911, claiming to have seen a person on a bicycle pointing a gun at people and followed the person to a store until police arrived. Officers determined the person did not have a gun and posed no threat.
“In this case, the defendant attacked three teenagers who had not committed any crime and at every stage of the interaction chose to escalate with more and more violence, until it culminated in the defendant taking the life of Rohani,” Burke stated.
