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Security guard kills teen returning replica gun to sporting goods store [1]

['Allan Rose Hill']

Date: 2024-06-11  

Off-duty security guard Aaron Myers, 51, was in a Renton, Washington shopping center parking lot last Wednesday when he spotted three teenagers walking toward a Big 5 sporting goods store. One of them was holding what Myers thought was a Glock handgun. Myers ordered the teens to put their hands up as he showed them his own gun. According to police, the teens complied and told Myers that their gun was just an Airsoft replica. "The confrontation intensified … rapidly," police said, and Myers fired on the boys, killing 17-year-old Harat Ali Rohani.

Then he "stood over Rohani and continued to shoot, which he claimed he did because he believed one of the teen's companions was reaching for a gun in Rohani's waistband," reports The Guardian.

According to King County prosecutor Leesa Manion, Myers "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 in how to safely prevent crime".

"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."

The other teens told police Rogani was "dealing with functioning issues on the Airsoft gun and wanted to take it back" to the store. Now he's dead.

Myers is charged with second-degree murder and assault, both felonies.

Previously:

• Realistic 'toy' gun found in sandbox

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/11/security-guard-kills-teen-returning-replica-gun-to-sporting-goods-store.html

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