Police arrest suspect in Good Samaritan shooting
Police in Hamilton, Ont., say they’ve arrested one man in the fatal shooting of a Good Samaritan and are looking for a second suspect.
Yousif Al-Hasnawi was shot when he tried to intervene as two men were accosting an older man in downtown Hamilton on Saturday night.
Police say they arrested one man around 3:30 a.m. Monday and charged the 20-year-old with accessory after the fact to murder.
Hamilton police say they have identified a second suspect as the alleged shooter and are in the process of applying for a warrant for second-degree murder. The name of neither suspect has been released.
Police have described Al-Hasnawi, 19, as a brave young man who was trying to do the right thing.
“This young man was doing what he felt was right in the situation,” Det. Sgt. Steve Bereziuk told reporters. “He was a brave young man.”
Police said paramedics took Al-Hasnawi to hospital Saturday night, where he died of his injuries.
Talib Al-Jalili said AlHasnawi had come out of the Al-Mostafa Islamic Centre when he noticed two men picking on an older man.
“He saw an old man walking by here with two people who were trying to harass him, assault him, hit him, laughing at him,” Al-Jalili said Sunday. “He only told him ‘leave the old man alone.’”
Al-Jalili criticized paramedics who arrived on scene, arguing they didn’t take Al-Hasnawi’s injury seriously.
“They thought he was acting. The man was in severe pain inside his abdomen, why would he act?” Al-Jalili said.
Tom Raczynski, who lives in the area, said he heard screams that drew him out of his home Saturday. There wasn’t much blood to be seen, he said, but the young man was clearly in distress.
“He was lying there complaining he was hurting and they kept saying he was faking,” Raczynski said of paramedics and police at the scene.
“The one paramedic kept saying ‘Oh you’re a good actor,’” Raczynski said. “I just thought it was disgusting. Like, somebody’s shot, you take him in to the hospital, you don’t leave him lying there.”
Russell Crocker, deputy chief of the Hamilton Paramedic Service, said Monday the service has launched an investigation into the incident as a result of information it has received.
“HPS will ensure that our process is thorough and that all facts are obtained and examined in regards to the event this past weekend. As we are in the early stages of the investigation, we are unable to provide any additional details at this time,” Crocker said in a statement.
Al-Hasnawi was a firstyear medical science student at Brock University, the school said.
“The Brock community is shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the death of our colleague Yosif AlHasnawi,” Brock University president Gervan Fearon said.