Latest / The Mind of a Man / Killer Quickly Realizes He Is Not Actually A Hero _

Transcript

Killer Quickly Realizes He Is Not Actually A Hero _ · The Mind of a Man

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: The scene outside the Big Five sporting goods store in Renton,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Washington on the evening of June 5th, 2024, was chaotic.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: City police arrived on scene within minutes of dispatch, only
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: to find undercover sheriffs already there. A teenager was found lying,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: fatally injured, on the sidewalk.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, this is shenanigans. It's been five, six, eight, four, five, six,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: eight hours.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Sorting through the confusion, the story that emerged was shocking.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: There were four individuals involved, one young victim, and there
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: appeared to be three firearms. Except, which of the guns
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: were actually real?
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: So we got three guns. So this one, that's a
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: BB gun. That one's real, came back with a return.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: That one didn't come back with a return, but it
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: looks real. Hi there, I'm Kevin, and welcome.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: To Just Thought Lounge. Today's case is not as straightforward
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: as it initially appears. It begins with some confusion, and
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: it ends in heartbreak and disbelief. Let's take a look.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Reports to emergency services began pouring in at 7.37 p.m.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: on June 5, 2024. Callers reported a shooting outside of
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the Big Five sporting goods store in Renton. Customers and
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: staff inside the Big Five, as well as the nearby
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: stores and roadway, reported what they saw and heard in
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: a confused panic.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: 911, what are you reporting? Oh, there are some people
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: there shooting for us.
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: They're shooting?
• 1:49
  Speaker 5: Yeah, they are already shooting.
• 1:52
  Speaker 6: Where are you?
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: Oh, I'm in Big Five.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Amongst the calls placed by witnesses at the scene were
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: many more placed by King County.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Sheriff's detectives, who were inexplicably spotted at the scene just
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: moments after the shots were fired.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Their presence suggested an officer had been involved in the incident,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: though reports varied wildly.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: Looks like we've got reports of a drive-by shooting there.
• 2:33
  Speaker 7: OIS, officer-involved shooting at Big Side Sports in Renton.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Two people shot, one down.
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: Okay, my officer says that they have two detained. Am
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: I starting to say two?
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Okay, everybody stop so I can talk to Valleycom. As
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Renton police arrived on scene, they found the sheriff's office
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: already there, In force, some dressed in plain clothes and
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: others in uniform.
• 2:59
  Speaker 8: Three robbers, 12.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: I'm on scene.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Looks like we've got sheriffs.
• 3:03
  Speaker 9: In this office in multiple.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Detectives surrounded a young man on the pavement directly outside
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: the doors of the sporting goods store. They worked frantically
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: to render medical aid. There was no second gunshot victim present,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: as dispatchers had erroneously relayed to responders.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: You guys need chest seals? Hey, any other gunshot victims?
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Just this guy? It's him, we just saw him. Okay.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: I'll have Lizzie. Everybody stay with us, stay with us, okay?
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Stay with us. Yeah, no, this is shenanigans. Alright.
• 3:42
  Speaker 6: So, what the hell happened?
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: We have no idea. Apparently, a guy in this car
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: just shot that guy. That's all we know so far.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: As the scene was secured, officers began to make sense
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: of the chaos. Though they had responded to an OIS,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: or officer-involved shooting, this seemed not to be the case.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: County detectives, it turns out, had been in a building
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: just across the street conducting undercover training when they overheard
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: an altercation occurring in the parking lot of the Big
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Five Plaza. At first, most assumed that it was one
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: of their training scenarios. They rushed onto the scene only
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: to discover, to their horror, a young man on the ground.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: This was no training exercise. The victim was identified as
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: 17-year-old Hazrat Ali Rohani. He went simply by Ali. The
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: teenager had sustained a yet undetermined number of gunshot wounds.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: While detectives attempted to assist Ali, others promptly detained multiple individuals.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: This included one man in his 50s, whom they witnessed
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: fire upon the dying teen. Also detained were two young men.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: One stood by the plaza, handcuffed and confused. The second
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: young man was pulled from the scene, screaming. He was
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: placed in the back of a police cruiser. Their connection
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: to the victim, or shooter, was yet unknown.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: This is what I got. King County's doing a training
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: exercise over in the parking lot of Triton 2, right?
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: They hear a verbal... Argument of some type. They come over.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: White dude.
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: My guy.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Is in a verbal argument with him and the guy
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: that's in the back of that car right now.
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Something happens. White dude pulls out a gun and puts
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: about six rounds in him. All right. So let's... ID
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: this guy. Let's get him ID'd.
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: Mirandize him.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: I did that already.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Will he talk? I haven't even tried. Okay. And then
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: let's ID... this other witness, see what he says.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: Hey, Jake.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Can I get one of your guys?
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Alright.
• 5:53
  Speaker 6: Holy s * * *.
• 5:57
  Speaker 8: This is our suspect.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Wait, what? I'm going right over here. I'm not done.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: I'm not done. Oh, you're not done? Nobody goes to
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: my car. Nobody goes to my car.
• 6:17
  Speaker 8: There's a guy over there who got plugged.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Okay. Wait, victim's over there. No! No one's associated with me.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: My son's, uh, Gracie Barra. Alright. You can stick them
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: in mine if we need to. I've seldom been this
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: confused in my life.
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: I just know someone got shot and we're here.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: The suspect was 51-year-old Aaron Brown Myers. Aaron was in
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the parking lot outside of the Big Five that day,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: waiting to collect his 13-year-old son from his jiu-jitsu class
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: at the Gracie Barra Martial Arts Academy, which was next
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: door to the Big Five. Aaron Myers was a husband, father,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: and veteran. For two decades, he worked with fire service
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: as a first responder. More recently, he was employed as
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: a security guard for a company that would contract out
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: his service where armed security was required. He worked a
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: 12-hour shift before arriving at the plaza to collect his son.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Aaron was placed in the back of a cruiser. He
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: first asked about his truck, which remained parked near the storefront.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: After that, he asked after his son.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: How are you doing this dude man?
• 7:43
  Speaker 8: I'm gonna throw him in my car and then you
• 7:46
  Speaker 8: can school me up on like what's happening.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: Alright man, you're gonna be audio and visually recorded when
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: I get back here.
• 7:53
  Speaker 8: I understand. Can you just make sure my truck's okay?
• 7:58
  Speaker 9: I don't know which truck it is.
• 8:00
  Speaker 8: I'm our son's and Gracie borrowed it. Alright. What's your
• 8:05
  Speaker 8: son's name?
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: F * * *.
• 8:08
  Speaker 8: F * * *.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Alright, I'll tell Gracie Barra to hang on to him
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: for now, okay?
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Officers checked on the safety of Aaron's son in the
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: martial arts studio, then returned to speak with him.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: All right. Are you hurt or injured or feeling any
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: discomfort at all right now?
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: You good?
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: I got the fire department.
• 8:32
  Speaker 8: If you need anything, let me know.
• 8:37
  Speaker 9: You've been Mirandized.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Can you give me.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: What happened?
• 8:43
  Speaker 8: I saw two armed individuals... attempting to enter that store.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: Two armed individuals going into big five they both had guns.
• 8:56
  Speaker 8: Uh one had a had one in his hand and
• 9:00
  Speaker 8: as he walked past my truck and then he tucked
• 9:03
  Speaker 8: it in under his shirt and then he pulled it
• 9:06
  Speaker 8: out again as i was approaching from behind i told
• 9:09
  Speaker 8: him to drop it he dropped it the other the
• 9:13
  Speaker 8: other individual i saw the butt of a handgun in
• 9:18
  Speaker 8: his pants he attempted to pull it I told him
• 9:20
  Speaker 8: to put his hands up and he attempted to pull.
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: It alright.
• 9:27
  Speaker 8: So you told the one guy to drop it he
• 9:29
  Speaker 8: dropped it you told the other guy to drop it
• 9:32
  Speaker 8: and he tried to I told him to put his
• 9:34
  Speaker 8: hands up.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Told him to put his hands up and he tried
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: to pull.
• 9:37
  Speaker 8: It yes sir and then I'll wait till an attorney
• 9:42
  Speaker 8: since I'm being called a suspect.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: I guess alright man good enough sit tight Okay, what
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: do you got? I'm on.
• 9:51
  Speaker 8: This is our shooter. Yes.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: He's sitting here waiting for his kit to come out
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: of Gracie Baja. Okay. He sees two guys with guns.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: He says, it looks like they're concealing them and they're
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: going into Big Five.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: He decides to roll up on them.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: Tells the one guy to drop his gun.
• 10:10
  Speaker 9: He drops his gun.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Is that the silver gun? I don't know which is
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: which yet. Because the black gun's his. So then he
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: tells the other guy, drop it.
• 10:18
  Speaker 8: He reaches for it.
• 10:19
  Speaker 9: He plugs it.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: That's what we got.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: Witnesses inside the Big Five confirmed the version of events
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: described by Aaron.
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: Witness inside there says our suspect ran up, got into
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: a physical altercation with him first because he was trying
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: to arrest the guys, and then.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: They pushed off each other. He ran up on them?
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: They saw one of the two.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: They couldn't decipher which one.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Walking up to the store with a.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: Gun in hand, kind of just down to the side
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: like this. So he runs up.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: He tells them to drop it. He drops it.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: Our suspect, the guy in the car, comes in, tries
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: to basically put his hands behind his back, arrest him.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: And they start getting into a tussle. And then they
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: push away and he draws out and fires.
• 11:06
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Ali was with two other teenagers when he was shot.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: 17-year-old friend Bilal, who was subsequently handcuffed and placed in
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: the back of a cruiser. He was distraught, screaming, his
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: words barely decipherable.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: This buddy, they were together. He could just stand by
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: with me because he just broke his skin on his
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: knuckles punching the partition. Hey, don't punch that, man. You're
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: just going to mess up your hand, bro. I was
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: happy and sorry, but I know there's something to talk
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: about too. Why not me?
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: Why?
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: I don't fucking shoot him, bro. I don't fucking shoot him, bro.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: I could barely get this. I don't want to know
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: what the fuck. Ali's second companion was his cousin, Saddam.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: Saddam was handcuffed as well. He stood visibly upset and
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: confused outside.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: Of the plaza.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Responding to officers' queries to the best of his ability.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: His English was not as strong as his friend Bilal's.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: All three boys were children of immigrant Afghan families. What
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Saddam told officers began to fill in the missing pieces.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: He said that he, Ali, and Bilal had arrived at
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the Big Five to return or exchange Ali's BB gun.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Both Ali and Saddam had been carrying Glock-labeled airsoft pellet guns.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: These hyper-realistic models shoot only plastic pellets. As they approached
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: the store, he said a male exited a dark-colored truck
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: that was in the parking lot in front of the
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Big Five. That man, Aaron Myers, approached them rapidly from behind,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: yelling loudly. Aaron also carried a Glock handgun, but his
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: was real.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: One of them was white and black, and the other
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: one was just black and black. The BB guns?
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, the big guns. So there's one BB gun,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: two BB guns. Two BB guns. So, did you carry
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: a BB gun? Were you carrying a BB gun too? No. Okay.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Do you guys have a car here?
• 13:33
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: Where's that at? It's right there. White one? Not a
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: white one.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: It's the one I got you all the shoes from.
• 13:44
  Speaker 8: I just talked to the victim's cousin.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 13:47
  Speaker 8: So then he said they were coming in to return
• 13:51
  Speaker 8: a BB gun back.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Are those BB guns? One of them. One of them
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: looks like a BB gun.
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure.
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: He said while they were returning the BB gun, the
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: suspect came up and.
• 14:01
  Speaker 8: Then told him to drop the gun, disguised him, threw
• 14:04
  Speaker 8: the gun on the ground, and then that's when he shot.
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: So, solid.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Because that's that guy's story, too.
• 14:10
  Speaker 6: He went f * * * ing over here.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: I got photos! Yep, I'm standing by the guns. Make
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: sure no one's touching them. So we got three guns.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: So this one, that's a BB gun. That one's real,
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: came back with a turn.
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: That one didn't come back with a return, but it
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: looks real.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: One minute. Who is, Romero's in there. Noah's in there
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: right now. Justin. And you got video for me? I
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: got photos of all the stuff.
• 15:02
  Speaker 8: Perfect.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: The sidewalk outside of the Big Five was scattered with firearms, ammunition, clothing,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: and other signs of violence. There were three handguns, one
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: black and gray Glock-labeled airsoft pellet gun, one black 9mm
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Glock 19 pistol, a real one, and a third black
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: airsoft pellet gun. Both pellet guns were convincing replicas. In fact,
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: it took officers at the scene running serial numbers multiple
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: times to verify which guns, if any, shot only pellets.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: The one Ali had been carrying had fallen through his
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: pants to the ground. It was revealed only after emergency
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: responders began treatment. There were a total of 10 shell casings,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: all 9mm. This was the total number of shots fired.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Ali Rohani had been struck 7 times. His injuries included
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: wounds to his torso, the back of his arm, and
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: stretched to the back of his thighs. Efforts to save
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: the 17-year-old failed. He was declared dead at the scene.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: The first of six children, Ali was known as a
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: role model to his younger siblings. His father, Jamaluddin, recounted
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: that his eldest son was devout. He did not drink, smoke,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: or swear. He described Ali as a friend who worked
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: tirelessly in high school studies, as well as part-time at
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: the family's clothing shop. He was a junior at Kent
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: Meridian High School. His loss was deeply felt across the
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: school community.
• 16:41
  Speaker 6: Same day, I was living with him right here, and
• 16:45
  Speaker 6: he asked me about what I was going to do
• 16:46
  Speaker 6: after school. He was always going to come give me hug, everything.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Aaron Myers told police that when he arrives to pick
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: up his son from jujitsu class, he performs what he
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: called overwatch at the location. As a licensed security officer
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: carrying his firearm, he feels obliged as a citizen and
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: as a father. He told police that he has seen
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: numerous crimes occur in the parking lot in the past
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: and wanted to make sure that his son was safe
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: while in training. That evening, just past 7.30pm, he watched
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: as the three youths walked past him where he sat
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: in his pickup truck. Two of them were visibly armed,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: he said. Aaron believed that the group was going to
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: commit armed robbery at the location. He said he felt
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: like he did not have the time to call 911
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: and that he had a duty to act to stop
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: the individuals from hurting someone innocent and to protect his son.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: At the station, Aaron was distraught and crying. He told
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: detectives that he thought he was going to be sick,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: so he was given a trash can where he audibly
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: started to gag. The detective suggested that he utilize different
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: breathing techniques to try and calm down. Eventually, he regained
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: his composure and began to offer a detailed breakdown of
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: his encounter with Ali Rohani and the two other boys.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Security camera footage from inside Gracie Barra captured the beginning
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: and end of the interaction. A camera from inside the
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Big Five filled in the missing pieces. Cameras showed the
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: three boys walking through the parking lot and past Aaron's truck.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: There is a man in black on the sidewalk, an
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: unsuspecting witness to what was about to occur. In Aaron's
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: recollection of events, he watched the boys walk past before
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: he exited his vehicle and pulled out his handgun, a
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Glock pistol he carried for his work as a security guard.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: He pointed the gun towards the three boys, who were
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: originally facing away from him, walking towards the storefront. The
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: bystander spots the gun drawn and walks quickly away from
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: the exchange unfolding. Saddam separated from the other two boys
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: and walked away from Aaron as he approached, his gun
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: outstretched in front of him. Aaron told police that he
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: was issuing commands to the group, telling them to drop
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: their firearms and to put their hands up. From the
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: Big Five, Ali and Bilal were captured outside the glass doors. Balal,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: wearing a gray sweatsuit, removed his BB gun from his
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: waistband and threw it to the ground. Ali, however, does
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: not appear to do the same. During this time, Aaron
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: was getting closer to the group and closed the distance
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: between them. Aaron told detectives that he then used his
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: arm to try and restrain Bilal. He said that he
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: did not want him reaching for his discarded weapon. Commands
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: towards the boys continued. They were instructed to put their
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: hands up but according to Aaron they were not following
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: his instructions. He recounted that the individual with no gun, Saddam,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: was waving his hands around saying, He then recalled that
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: he pushed Bilal away as the second armed youth was
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: not placing his hands in the air. The cameras inside
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Gracie Barra show Ali in the far right corner, fleeing
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: from the direction of the physical encounter between Aaron and Bilal.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Ali appears first with his arms raised. As they lower,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: he seems to be turning his back to Aaron. His
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: hands reach down to his abdomen, and moments later, he
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: falls to the ground. It was at that time Aaron
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: said he saw Ali reach for his gun. His recollection
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: was that Ali's hand actually grasped the gun. He fired.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: He was not sure how many times. Only seconds later,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Aaron was the one receiving instructions. He dropped his gun
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: to the ground and raised his hands as county detectives,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: having witnessed portions of the encounter, rushed to the scene.
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Bilal was captured running to the aid of his friend.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Saddam tried to reach 911 on his cell phone. Another
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: bystander recorded the moments that followed. Renton City investigators reviewing
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the footage were under no illusion that Aaron Meyer's recollection
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: of events presented the full, unadulterated truth. Indeed, they believed
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: that the cameras contradicted Aaron's version of events. They also
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: learned that this was not the first time the security
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: guard had found himself playing vigilante, ostensibly for the public good.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Only a couple of years prior, he called emergency services
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: about a suspicious man who he believed to be armed.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: walking down the street. On that call, he told the
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: operator that he was also carrying his gun and that
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: he felt compelled to intervene. Thankfully, police arrived before Aaron
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: had a chance to pull his weapon and confront the man.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: The responding officers then discovered that that apparently suspicious individual
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: was not in fact carrying a gun. The man posed
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: no threat to Aaron or anyone else.
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: Prosecutors charged Aaron Brown Myers with second-degree murder for shooting
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: and killing a 17-year-old outside a Renton sporting goods store
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: last Wednesday. In court papers, prosecutors say Myers shot the
• 22:37
  Speaker 5: victim in the back at least six times after stopping
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: the teen and two others. One teenager was carrying an
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: airsoft gun to be returned to Big Five Sporting Goods.
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: Myers told police he thought the teens were going to
• 22:50
  Speaker 5: commit a robbery. He remains behind bars on $ 2 million.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: Aaron Myers stood trial for second-degree murder and assault in
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: April 2026. He pleaded not guilty, arguing that he fired
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: at Ali Rohani in self-defense after the boy reached for
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: what he believed was a real handgun. It was a
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: last resort after intervening to stop an act of violence
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: he believed the boys were intending inside the Big Five.
• 23:20
  Speaker 9: He also couldn't ignore what he saw. This is what
• 23:27
  Speaker 9: he saw. This is a hyper-realistic replica Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: Prosecutors argued that even if the boy's guns had been real,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: even if Ali had in fact reached into his waistband
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: to access a weapon, Aaron's claim of self-defense was still bogus.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Because he was the instigator of the encounter. His actions
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: provoked a response. and then repeatedly escalated the situation through
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: a series of intentional acts. The older man approached the
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: group with his gun drawn. He grabbed Bilal's hair, shoved
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: the teenager into the window, all whilst pointing his loaded
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: gun at Bilal and then Ali in turn. Though the
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: cameras did not record audio, both of the surviving teens
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: insisted that during this time, they repeatedly yelled to Aaron
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: that their guns were not real. BB guns, BB guns,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: they stated over and over, they said.
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: The boys yelled repeatedly, it's a BB gun, it's not real.
• 24:36
  Speaker 7: But Mr.
• 24:37
  Speaker 4: Myers chose to escalate the situation even more.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: There were holes in the case that both the prosecutors
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: and defense attorneys were forced to contend with. First, despite
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: numerous eyewitnesses to the events at the plaza that evening,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: only one witness who had been inside the Big Five
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: testified that she overheard the boys calling out BB gun
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: before the shooting. And that witness only claimed to have
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: heard this after it was widely reported that the young
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: boys carried only pellet guns. Indeed, on recorded 911 calls,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: as well as statements with officers at the scene, No
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: witness ever mentioned hearing the boys call out that their
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: guns were not real. The gaping hole in the defense's
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: assertions came from the Gracie Barra footage. They called an
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: expert witness at trial who testified that a frame-by-frame analysis
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: showed Ali motioning towards his waistband with his right arm
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: just before Aaron fired. This motion, they argued, supported what
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Aaron reported seeing at the time. and justified his response
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: when he fired in self-defense. Yet, the same footage that
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: depicted Ali's arms falling to his sides showed Ali with
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: his hands raised and moving away from Aaron. Only a
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: moment later, he collapsed on the ground. Prosecutors told the
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: jury that the downward movement of Ali's arm, a crucial
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: factor in the defense's case, was likely a response to
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: the shots being fired, not the reason for them. This
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: motion was consistent with the injury to Ali's arm, one
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: of the first wounds he sustained. By the time he
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: dropped his hands from the air, Aaron Myers was already shooting.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Prosecutors argued that it was not reasonable to believe that Ali,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: who knew that his gun was not real, would have
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: reached down to use it, certainly given the tension of
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: the exchange and with his friend already pushed to the ground.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: It was not reasonable to believe that the 17-year-old would
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: pull his fake gun on an aggressor who held a
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: real one.
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: There is simply no way that Ali dropped his hand
• 26:49
  Speaker 4: down and grabbed his BB gun the way that Mr.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Myers described.
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: No reasonably prudent person would approach three boys casually going
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: about their day while pointing a gun at them, demanding orders.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: No reasonably prudent person would then escalate the situation every
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: step of the way by making physical contact, grabbing and pushing,
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: forcing Bola down to the ground when he wasn't even
• 27:18
  Speaker 4: fighting back. to then senselessly fire so many gunshots that
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: you lose track of how many you even fired, while
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: clearly aiming to kill.
• 27:30
  Speaker 9: Aaron Myers is not a murderer. And he did not
• 27:37
  Speaker 9: commit the crime of assault in the second degree. He
• 27:43
  Speaker 9: didn't want this to happen. He didn't want anyone to
• 27:49
  Speaker 9: get hurt. The reason he got out of his car
• 27:53
  Speaker 9: is he was trying to prevent violence. Based on what
• 27:59
  Speaker 9: he saw, he needed to act. This is someone who
• 28:03
  Speaker 9: was a first responder for 20 years. He was in
• 28:07
  Speaker 9: the military. He deployed to combat zones. Never even fired
• 28:12
  Speaker 9: his weapon at a person in his entire life. And now,
• 28:17
  Speaker 9: in this moment, 52 years old, Picking up his son
• 28:21
  Speaker 9: from a jujitsu class, he decides this is the moment
• 28:24
  Speaker 9: that he just wants to shoot. That does not make
• 28:28
  Speaker 9: any sense. He shot because he feared for his life.
• 28:32
  Speaker 9: That's what he told you.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: The final piece of doubt that the defense aimed to
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: plant in jurors' minds related to the intentions of the
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: boys that day. They claimed to be returning or exchanging
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: their BB guns, though they did not have the purchase
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: receipt with them. nor did they bring any of the packaging.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: On a prior occasion, Ali had exchanged a BB gun,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: carried in a bag, to the location where it had
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: been purchased. In this instance, Ali and Bilal carried the
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: guns by their sides and in their waistbands. In addition,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: they were not returning to the store where the BB
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: guns had been acquired. That store location, also a Big Five,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: was miles closer to where they lived. Defense questioned traveling
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: such a distance to a different store And without proof
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: of purchase, perhaps Aaron's assumptions about what the boys had
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: intended to do that day had not been that far
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: from the mark.
• 29:28
  Speaker 9: But I think it's a real possibility that their lies
• 29:31
  Speaker 9: about the minor details in this case point to the, again,
• 29:35
  Speaker 9: possibility that they were lying about what they were going
• 29:38
  Speaker 9: to do that day. You were trying to return your
• 29:40
  Speaker 9: guns with no receipt. You drove an extra seven miles
• 29:45
  Speaker 9: away from your house just to do a return. You
• 29:50
  Speaker 9: didn't put your guns in a bag or a box.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 29:54
  Speaker 9: Myers was absolutely entitled to shoot someone reaching for a
• 29:59
  Speaker 9: hyper-realistic handgun tucked into his waistband.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: The 12-person jury deliberated over two days.
• 30:08
  Speaker 7: We, the jury, find the defendant Aaron Brown-Meyer guilty of
• 30:12
  Speaker 7: a crime of murder in the second degree as charged
• 30:14
  Speaker 7: in count one. Signed by the presiding jury, find the
• 30:19
  Speaker 7: defendant Aaron Brown-Meyer guilty of a crime of assault in
• 30:23
  Speaker 7: the second degree as charged in count two.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Aaron Meyer's sentencing hearing was rescheduled from July to September 2, 2026.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: He faces a total sentence of 20 to 26 years
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: for second-degree murder and assault, as well as a 10-year
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: enhancement for the use of a firearm. Hazrat Ali Rohani
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: is deeply missed by his parents and his five younger siblings.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: And that was the tragic case of Hazrat Ali Rohani.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me. This week, I would like
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: to welcome our newest Sherlock Holmes members, Nouvelle Michelle, His Lady,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: Shate Wade, King Antony, and Quash. It's great to have
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: you all in the lounge. I'm Kevin, this is Just
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Thought Lounge, and I'll see you in the next one.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: Got to be selective.
• 31:21
  Speaker 9: Doing all the research.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Keeping it objective.
• 31:23
  Speaker 9: Always been effective.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: Can say he got a knack.
• 31:25
  Speaker 9: Pick it a litter.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: You see how Newton got his back.
• 31:27
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: The content that you need.
• 31:29
  Speaker 9: This could be a new sign.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: We talk in the comments. They jot in a few lines.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: Tune in and hit like.
• 31:33
  Speaker 8: Love that.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: It's too kind. Feels like the whole world is online
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: for true crime.
• 31:37
  Speaker 9: Watch him on the run, but it's not a race.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: Really hard to disappear. Proof without a trace. Sherlock Holmes
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: with it. I put you in your place. Got my
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: smoking pipe. Only right I crack another case like.
• 31:49
  Speaker 9: I need that feeling that you brought. Who learned the
• 31:54
  Speaker 9: lesson that you taught? To make a kill is what
• 31:59
  Speaker 9: they saw.
• 32:00
  Speaker 8: Found out the lounge just what you thought.
• 32:07
  Speaker 9: Found out the lounge just what you thought.