Family of ‘Good Samaritan’ suing police, paramedics, hospital
Yosif Al-Hasnawi’s father, brothers allege ‘negligence’ in care of slain 19-year-old
The family of shooting victim Yosif Al-Hasnawi is suing Hamilton police, paramedics and St. Joseph’s Heathcare Hamilton for $10 million, alleging the 19-year-old “Good Samaritan” would not have died were it not for the “negligence” of the organizations.
Al-Hasnawi’s father, Majed, and teenage brothers, Mahdi and Ahmed, said they have suffered emotionally and financially following Yosif’s death and seeing him “on the ground writhing in pain” that early December night.
Al-Hasnawi’s “untimely and tragic death” has “deprived” his father and brothers of “his care, companionship, and guidance and also prevented him contributing to and elevating their standard of living,” alleges a statement of claim filed in a Hamilton court earlier this month.
The allegations have not been proven in court and statements of de- fence have not yet been filed.
Al-Hasnawi was shot dead after trying to stop two men from harassing an older man on the street outside his mosque, the Al-Moustafa Islamic Centre on Main St. E., where he had been attending a religious celebration.
Multiple witnesses and family have accused first responders of seemingly not believing the “Good Samaritan” had been shot and claimed paramedics said Al-Hasnawi was faking it.
The single gunshot wound to the stomach was small and not bleeding heavily, leading some to speculate it was a pellet gun — but police have said it was actually a small-calibre handgun.
A span of 38 minutes passed between the arrival of paramedics on scene and Al-Hasnawi’s admittance to hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour after being shot.
The statement of claim alleges neither police nor paramedics administered first aid or emergency treatment and did not quickly transport him to the nearest hospital, which was the Hamilton General.
The statement of claim goes on to allege “negligent treatment” by St. Joseph’s when Al-Hasnawi arrived there.
Niagara Regional Police launched a criminal investigation into the paramedics’ response in late December at the request of Hamilton police. That investigation takes precedence over another probe by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care under the Ambulance Act.
Al-Hasnawi, a first-year Brock University student and the oldest of five children, aspired to become a doctor — a career he planned to use to continue helping his family attain a “comfortable standard of living” as he had already been doing through his part-time job, the statement of claim reads.
After he became a doctor, he planned to keep living with his family, help his brothers with their education and assist his father, who is disabled, according to the statement of claim.