WA-Teen returning airsoft gun to Renton store fatally shot by off-duty guard.

[sds71]

An off-duty, armed security guard shot and killed 17-year-old Hazrat Ali Rohani who was trying to exchange an airsoft gun to a Renton sporting goods store on Wednesday evening, according to police and the King County Medical Examiner.

The 51-year-old man shot the boy who, with two other teens, was walking toward a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in a strip mall on Grady Way, according to court documents released Friday.

He was booked into King County Jail on investigation of second-degree murder. A charging decision from prosecutors is expected June 10.

The incident occurred around 7:40 p.m. on June 5 outside the Big 5 Sporting Goods store in the Renton Village Shopping Center on S Grady Way…

Police said he told them he “conducts ‘overwatch'” at the strip mall because of crimes he’s witnessed in the parking lot.

He “felt like he did not have time to call 911, and that he had a duty to act to stop the individuals from hurting someone innocent, and to protect his son who was in the location next door,”

King County sheriff’s deputies were coincidentally in the parking lot and responded within seconds.

Teen returning airsoft gun to Renton store fatally shot by off-duty guard, police say

The off-duty security guard told police he thought the victim was planning to rob a store. The victim was trying to exchange his airsoft gun, police said.

www.seattletimes.com

17-year-old killed in Renton shooting at shopping center

A teen has died from a shooting that happened just outside the Big 5 Sporting Goods store in the Renton Village Shopping Center.

www.fox13seattle.com

Docs: Armed man thought teens were about to rob Renton business before deadly shooting; teens weren't armed

An off-duty armed security guard shot and killed a teen who he thought had a gun and was about to rob a Renton sporting goods store, detectives said. According to court documents, the teen didn't even have a real gun on him.

www.fox13seattle.com

 

[Mack the Knife]

I’ve never heard of civilians conducting “overwatch” in a retail parking lot before.

He “felt like he did not have time to call 911, and that he had a duty to act to stop the individuals from hurting someone innocent, and to protect his son who was in the location next door,” police wrote in their report.

Police said the man told them he got out of his car and pointed his gun at the group, telling them to drop the gun and put their hands up, according to the documents. The teen who was holding the gun threw it to the side, the man told police.
(Seattle Times)

Even if his account is true and even if the three teenagers were going to commit armed robbery, this (still unnamed?) man should have called 911 and not escalated the situation by engaging them. What did he think would happen when he confronted supposed armed robbers?

 

[modesty blaise]

What in the world?? I hope he is buried under the jail.

 

[sunspun]

So no explanation why he still shot him if the teen threw the gun to the side when the guard pointed his own gun at them?

 

[Inthedetails]

OMG.

 

[tlcya]

The man had been waiting to pick up his son from a martial arts studio in the strip mall when he saw three people walk in front of his car toward the Big 5 Sporting Goods store, the documents said. Police said he told them he “conducts ‘overwatch'” at the strip mall because of crimes he’s witnessed in the parking lot.

The man said he saw one of the boys had what he believed to be a Glock, and believed the group was going to commit armed robbery, documents said.
Teen returning airsoft gun to Renton store fatally shot by off-duty guard, police say

What in the what? just parked there waiting on his kid to come out of another store in the strip mall, conducting "overwatch". MOO this guy will turn out to be a wanna be cop who couldn't pass the psych eval and so is a security guard instead, running around conducting "overwatch" in his spare time. WTH is overwatch even? is that some sort of new code for neighborhood watch but armed with a sense of entitledment and a weapon?

 

[Inthedetails]

The man had been waiting to pick up his son from a martial arts studio in the strip mall when he saw three people walk in front of his car toward the Big 5 Sporting Goods store, the documents said. Police said he told them he “conducts ‘overwatch'” at the strip mall because of crimes he’s witnessed in the parking lot.

The man said he saw one of the boys had what he believed to be a Glock, and believed the group was going to commit armed robbery, documents said.
Teen returning airsoft gun to Renton store fatally shot by off-duty guard, police say

What in the what? just parked there waiting on his kid to come out of another store in the strip mall, conducting "overwatch". MOO this guy will turn out to be a wanna be cop who couldn't pass the psych eval and so is a security guard instead, running around conducting "overwatch" in his spare time. WTH is overwatch even? is that some sort of new code for neighborhood watch but armed with a sense of entitledment and a weapon?

The "good guy with a gun" didn't do good.

jmo

 

[Soulmagent]

From the link ,
''The teens initially complied and put their hands up. The teen who had the "gun," which ended up being an airsoft gun, tossed the weapon to the side.''

Pretend cop is just fine with abusing his gun rights ,but no one else can open carry around his children!
This guy must be extra stupid too ,but it is a sporting good store ,which often have a gun counter which often people bring guns into for repairs and certifications . Not sure this one did or not. But still.

 

[Cryptic]

I’ve never heard of civilians conducting “overwatch” in a retail parking lot before.

I have not heard of civilians conducting "over watch" anywhere. I suspect that he was either former military, or a "wanna'be".

I also suspect that hate / bias could also have been a contributing factor in the crime as well. In short, would the shooter have gone into hyper vigilance had the boy been white and returning an airsoft pistol at a Sporting Goods store?

It might be good to review his social media for pre dispositions to view some groups as automatic threats and also the possibility of an expressed a willingness to "intervene".

 

[sunspun]

I still don't see why he was shot if he threw his gun to the side when confronted. So he did what the shooter told him to do, but the man just shot him anyway? The article linked above just says that the teens "initially complied." That makes it sound like they complied at first, but then... didn't somehow? But if he'd already thrown his gun to the side, there's not much he could do after that that would've been seen as threatening or not complying. Maybe he's saying he initially threw down his (not a) gun, but then tried to grab it back up or something? Nothing like that mentioned, so I don't know what happened. Some (most?) people should not carry guns!

 

[Cryptic]

Pretend cop is just fine with abusing his gun rights ,but no one else can open carry around his children!

I have a sneaking suspicion that he operates under the following school of thought:

- Second Amendment (n): People who look, act and think like I do have broad and actively encouraged Second Amendment rights. Other groups carrying those same weapons are presumed to be criminals.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Those poor teens and the poor family of the victim. I am so sorry for their loss and hope there will be justice.

 

[tlcya]

Aaron Brown Myers, 51 is the man charged. Several news orgs have named him. Anybody ready to start sleuthing this guy's socials?
------------------------------------------------------
Even though he had not been hired to protect the store and had no authority to give them orders, Myers allegedly threatened the boys into dropping their ‘guns’, tackled one of them to the ground, and ultimately shot Rohani at least seven times.

The prosecutors asked a judge to set Myers’ bail at $2m in order to prevent him from fleeing or committing any other violent offences.

They added that Myers had previously followed a random citizen through two stores in 2022 because he wrongly believed they had a gun. In that incident, he called 911 and allegedly told the dispatcher that he “might have to shoot”.
Off-duty guard faces murder charge for gunning down teen returning ‘BB gun’ to store

Myers is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. June 24 in the GA Courtroom of the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He remains in the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle with bail set at $2 million.

“The defendant took it upon himself to conduct ‘overwatch’ in a Renton parking lot, despite the fact that he is not a member of law enforcement and thus has not been trained how to safely prevent crime,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lauren M. Burke in charging documents. “The defendant observed three teenagers walking through the parking lot of a sporting goods store, one of whom had an airsoft gun in his pocket, and immediately assumed that the teenagers must be about to commit a violent robbery.

“Rather than calling 911 or waiting for any evidence at all that could confirm or deny his assumption, he claimed he had a ‘duty to intervene’ and did so.”
Man charged in killing of Kent teen outside Renton sporting goods store | Kent Reporter

 

[Cryptic]

WTH is overwatch even?

"Over watch" is a military term used to describe anticipating a certain threat, and then protecting a target or other soldiers from afar. Those on "over watch" are usually concealed to take the enemy by surprise.

For example, snipers over watching a foot patrol when the anticipated threat is being ambushed by enemy soldiers.
Or the anticipated threat is an attack by tanks. So, a patrol in light armored vehicles is over watched by teams of soldiers with hi tech anti tank missiles.

Ideally, as soon as the enemy makes an appearance, those on over watch decisively stop the attack before it starts. The surprised enemy is quickly defeated. And.... the stunned survivors dont want to even think about making another such attack. So.... its a double victory.

 

[tlcya]

So I'm gonna further take a guess - JUST SPECULATION - that in addition to being a wanna be cop who couldn't pass the psych eval, he is either a wanna be soldier who wasn't for the same reason or he is former military who was dishonorably discharged.

I can't wait to see what you all drum up from his socials. I already have an impression of who I THINK Mr. Myers might be.JMO

 

[TTF14]

"Over watch" is a military term used to describe anticipating a certain threat, and then protecting a target or other soldiers from afar. Those on "over watch" are usually concealed to take the enemy by surprise.

For example, snipers over watching a foot patrol when the anticipated threat is being ambushed by enemy soldiers.
Or the anticipated threat is an attack by tanks. So, a patrol in light armored vehicles is over watched by teams of soldiers with hi tech anti tank missiles.

Ideally, as soon as the enemy makes an appearance, those on over watch decisively stop the attack before it starts. The surprised enemy is quickly defeated. And.... the stunned survivors dont want to even think about making another such attack. So.... its a double victory.

Thank you for this explanation!

 

[modesty blaise]

Aaron Brown Myers, 51 is the man charged. Several news orgs have named him. Anybody ready to start sleuthing this guy's socials?
------------------------------------------------------
Even though he had not been hired to protect the store and had no authority to give them orders, Myers allegedly threatened the boys into dropping their ‘guns’, tackled one of them to the ground, and ultimately shot Rohani at least seven times.

The prosecutors asked a judge to set Myers’ bail at $2m in order to prevent him from fleeing or committing any other violent offences.

They added that Myers had previously followed a random citizen through two stores in 2022 because he wrongly believed they had a gun. In that incident, he called 911 and allegedly told the dispatcher that he “might have to shoot”.
Off-duty guard faces murder charge for gunning down teen returning ‘BB gun’ to store

Myers is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. June 24 in the GA Courtroom of the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He remains in the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle with bail set at $2 million.

“The defendant took it upon himself to conduct ‘overwatch’ in a Renton parking lot, despite the fact that he is not a member of law enforcement and thus has not been trained how to safely prevent crime,” wrote Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lauren M. Burke in charging documents. “The defendant observed three teenagers walking through the parking lot of a sporting goods store, one of whom had an airsoft gun in his pocket, and immediately assumed that the teenagers must be about to commit a violent robbery.

“Rather than calling 911 or waiting for any evidence at all that could confirm or deny his assumption, he claimed he had a ‘duty to intervene’ and did so.”
Man charged in killing of Kent teen outside Renton sporting goods store | Kent Reporter

Can we say wtf??

 

[tlcya]

Can we say wtf??

this guy was a walking murder waiting to happen. JMO

Is anyone familiar with the laws in WA relative to open/concealed carry, stand your ground etc? This guy claiming he felt he had to act blah blah blah makes me feel like he will try to use some ridiculous defense of self and others BS and I am curious if that plays in WA? TIA

 

[sasha17]

this guy was a walking murder waiting to happen. JMO

Is anyone familiar with the laws in WA relative to open/concealed carry, stand your ground etc? This guy claiming he felt he had to act blah blah blah makes me feel like he will try to use some ridiculous defense of self and others BS and I am curious if that plays in WA? TIA

Open carry is legal in Washington state. A permit is needed for concealed carry. I'm not familiar with any stand your ground or similar laws so I can't comment on that.

I agree with you on what his defense will be. I hope it won't work though. Hazrat and his friends did nothing wrong.

 

[Vaderman]

Can we say wtf??

No kidding. Literally "overkill".