‘His face haunts me’: Man who went to help 19-year-old shooting victim
YOSIF AL-HASNAWI LAY on the sidewalk, his eyes wide and his shirt pulled up revealing a smear of blood and a small cut maybe oneeighth of an inch in diameter.
This is what George Catsoudas saw as he ran to the 19-year-old on Sanford Avenue North, south of Main Street East shortly before 9 p.m. last Saturday. Al-Hasnawi appeared to be in shock and wasn’t speaking.
George and his son Kostav were in the parking lot of the Always Convenience on the corner of Main and Sanford when they heard the pop. It did not sound like a gunshot, they thought.
“I told him it looks like you’re shot with a BB gun. You’ll be OK,” George said.
But they were wrong. The next morning they were shocked and horrified to learn he had been shot with a handgun and died.
“His face haunts me,” George said.
There remains more questions than answers about what happened in the hour between the gunshot and the death of Al-Hasnawi — a first-year Brock University student and oldest of five kids in a family originally from Iraq.
For family and friends, the biggest question is why it took 38 minutes for paramedics to transport him.
Hamilton police homicide Det. Sgt. Steve Bereziuk said records show the ambulance arrived at 9:01 p.m. and left the scene at 9:39 p.m.
By the time he arrived at St. Joseph’s Hospital, doctors immediately began resuscitation attempts, but ultimately pronounced him dead by 10 p.m.
After three days on the run, police arrested 19-year-old Dale Burningsky King at a relative’s home in Hagersville. He’s charged with second-degree murder and is the alleged shooter.
King briefly appeared in Hamilton court Friday morning, where he was ordered to not have contact with witnesses. He was remanded into custody.
His lawyer, Owen Goddard, of the Toronto firm Breese Davies Law, declined to comment outside court.
A 55-year-old woman — the unnamed family member whose house King was found at — was also arrested Thursday and her actions remain under investigation, Bereziuk said.
James Matheson, 20, is charged with accessory after the fact. He was allegedly the second suspect at the shooting scene, but police say he did not pull the trigger.
Police have said Al-Hasnawi intervened when he saw two men harassing an older man on Main Street East outside the Al-Moustafa Islamic Centre, where he had been taking part in a religious celebration. He’s been lauded as both a hero and “Good Samaritan.”
George and Kostav said they did not see the older man — whom police are still looking to speak with. But they did see the moments just after as Al-Hasnawi, his brother and two other men ran after the pair involved in the scuffle — allegedly Matheson and King.
They crossed in front of George’s car, which was stopped at the light going north on Sanford. Moments later, with the car now in the convenience store parking lot, they heard a single pop and the running group of guys suddenly froze.
George said he went into the convenience store and that’s when Al-Hasnawi’s frantic younger brother came in looking for help calling 911. He said his brother had been shot and that he was bleeding.
George said the mention of blood made him immediately run over to see if he could help. That’s when he came across Al-Hasnawi on the ground.
He and his son asked the other young men what had happened and why they had been running after the two guys — who had since fled. They were told about helping the older man.
Not realizing the seriousness of Al-Hasnawi’s injuries, they chastised the group — warning them what could have happened if it was a “real gun.”
Hamilton police were soon on scene and came running over looking for a gunshot victim. The sirens of an ambulance could be heard quickly approaching.
That’s when George and Kostav decided to leave — believing the situation was under control. Both have since given statements to police and remain stunned about what happened after they left.
They didn’t see the conduct of paramedics, but friends and family who came running out of the nearby mosque did.
Friend Mohammed Hasan ran over just as paramedics arrived. He said there were about three police officers trying to take witness statements, two paramedics standing back and his friend lying on the ground.
Al-Hasnawi’s lips were dry and swollen. He couldn’t speak, other than to whisper to his father that he couldn’t breathe, Hasan said.
“Police were telling him to get up,” he said.
“Paramedics were telling him he’s acting ... laughing.”
He did not see paramedics checking vitals and after what felt like forever they finally loaded him into the ambulance. Al-Hasnawi’s brother tried to hug him, but he was pushed away, Hasan said.
No family member was allowed to go with Al-Hasnawi in the ambulance and the doors were closed, he said. It took several more minutes for the ambulance to leave. After driving to the hospital, Hasan was stunned to learn his friend had died. He said he questions whether Al-Hasnawi died in the ambulance.
There have been no explanations for paramedics’ behaviour that day, including allegations they didn’t believe Al-Hasnawi was injured, explaining the length of time they waited or why they went to St. Joseph’s Hospital instead of Hamilton General Hospital, the regional trauma centre.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has launched a formal investigation with the possibility of laying charges under the Ambulance Act.
Hamilton Paramedic Service said it will also conduct an internal investigation, but cannot speak with anyone involved until after the ministry investigation.
The Special Investigations Unit says it’s assessing whether there are grounds to investigate the conduct of police.
The Ministry of Health says it cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.
However, spokesperson David Jensen said generally that paramedics are trained to use “Field Trauma Triage Standards” to determine the most appropriate destination for a patient.
The document shows there is a four-step process that a paramedic is supposed to take.
The very first is to measure “a critically injured trauma patient’s level of consciousness and vital signs.” It’s not clear if this happened when paramedics responded to the Sanford shooting. If paramedics had checked Al-Hasnawi’s vitals, would they not have seen he was dying? If there had been a quicker response, would he be alive?
Hamilton police have not recovered the murder weapon, but have described it as “a small handgun.” Police know the calibre of the gun used, but have not released that information publicly.
Jooyoung Lee, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto and expert on gun violence, said handguns remain the most common type of gun used in violent crime and that those who carry them often do because they think they need them for personal protection.
A .22 calibre is the smallest bullet available commercially — its handguns are light, easy to conceal and accurate, Lee said. Despite making a small entry wound, they are so light that they often bounce around inside the body inflicting serious damage.
“A .22 is a very small round, but a deadly round,” he said.
Police have said Al-Hasnawi died as a result of his gunshot wound. But autopsy details have not been made public.