Washington man arrested after fatally shooting teen who had BB gun
Washington man arrested after fatally shooting teen who had BB gun
Aaron Brown Myers tells police he thought the teens had a Glock and were about to commit an armed robbery. The teens say they told him they only had BB guns.
Myers, who says he's a licensed security guard, was sitting in his car Wednesday to conduct "overwatch" while his son trains because "he has seen numerous crimes occur" in the parking lot, according to the probable cause statement.
The surveillance footage shows Myers approach the teens with a gun in his hand, point it directly at them and then move quickly toward them, police said. One of the boys pulls a BB gun out of his pocket, lays it on the ground and extends his arms out as if to show he has nothing in his hands, police said in the document.
"Immediately after ... it is clear that he has been shot because he abruptly jerks his body away from Myers and falls to the ground," the document says.
Myers said that when he first saw the boys, he thought one of them had a "Glock" by his side and that they were about to commit an armed robbery.
He seems to be okay with open carry so I wonder why he thought they were going to commit a robbery.
The 17-year-old shot and killed was identified as Hazrat Ali Rohani
Oh. He was brown.
Also, this guy is why an armed society is absolutely not a polite society. More people carrying around guns means more dipshits carrying them.
He seems to be okay with open carry so I
Open carry for my, but not for thee.
This is like a few months ago, when a gun rights advocate realized that "every body having the right of having guns" also included LGTB and they all lost their shared braincell.
The problem is that they will use lethal force in defense of their pride/ego. They will simply escalate any dumb situation just because they can
Oh. He was brown.
Was there any doubt?
Behold, Libertarians and 2nd Amendment nutters: Your "good guy with a gun". Aren't you proud of yourselves?
What do you expect them to say? That they're proud of this guy? Even though he's clearly a madman?
I know IRL gun nuts, and none of them would identify with this person. Also, none of them subscribe to the fallacy/straw-man of a "good guy with a gun". The ones who carry concealed would remind you that they are carrying for themselves, not for you. If you find an active shooter in a mall, you can count on them... to run away.
Skillful gun nuts know that shooting defensively is never worth the legal hassle unless it saves your life (or a family member's life).
The shooter in this article is nothing like any of the gun nuts I've ever met. This shooter is another Kyle Rittenhouse, someone anxious for a chance to kill a person and get away with it under the excuse of defense.
I could be considered a gun nut myself but I will not pretend that this behavior is some abnormal outlier. There are plenty, plenty of American gun owners who think like this man does, they just haven't had the opportunity for their malformed amygdala to get someone killed.
You mention Rittenhouse but he's a gun culture hero. Zimmerman and the like, all heroes. People who get to use their gun to lay down the law like the Earp posse are generally seen as heroes when they don't completely fuck up like this guy, they're not shunned as short-sighted and reckless.
So, you know responsible gun owners - note I didn't mention them. I'm happy they exist. But you don't know every gun owner, or even a significant fraction of them, and if you believe nobody with a gun subscribes to the "good guy with a gun" fallacy then you're delusional.
Yes, that's what I expect. And then for the shooter to appear on podcasts and political rallies
I know IRL gun nuts, and none of them would identify with this person.
Maybe not, but when they resist any and all legislation to control access to guns, don't support mandatory training, red flag laws, etc, they accept that people like this can legally get them. That's an acceptable tradeoff for them. Maybe your gun nut friends support reasonable legislation, it's possible I suppose.
Ultimately this is no true scotsman territory I think.
This shooter is another Kyle Rittenhouse, someone anxious for a chance to kill a person and get away with it under the excuse of defense.
Wow, tell me you don't know anything about the Kyle Rittenhouse story without saying it directly, lmao.
I love how the Rittenhouse story has become such an effective litmus test to easily distinguish between honest left-wingers/progressives, and ones who are either gullible enough to swallow the narrative that is clearly disproven by all of the evidence (up to and including publicly-available direct video evidence) and testimony, or malicious and dishonest enough to cling to said narrative out of solidarity for their political 'team', knowing that it is categorically false.
This is “licensed security guard” with a gun.
Just diet cop.
Hahaha no, he's not even a "diet" cop (but I love that term), though he clearly fuckin thinks he is. I actually took a security guard training course when I was a teenager, and this motherfucker did everything they tell you not to do. If he saw a suspected threat, he should have called the cops and gotten to safety, according to the training. Even with a gun, you're not supposed to use it. We got that training because guards who can wear firearms get paid more, and the agency training is would make more on us if we had our certs.
It was just middle-manager levels of power tripping, with a gun.
No, no, if we had removed all regulations, like the libertarians want, this gentleman would have voluntarily formed a non-aggression pact with the teens and not shot any. The real problem is the regulations and laws preventing him from forming a pact. If we remove all laws and taxes it will work.
Carries a gun
Violently terrified of others carrying guns
This guy was never not going to murder someone.
Psss... Let me let you in on a secret. It's not just this guy.
It’s always the ones you most suspect
Isn't that the main argument? "I have a gun because you have a gun... And they want guns because we have guns". It's rednecks version of "assured mutual destruction".
The insidious part is a lot of people who don't want guns end up getting them because those who want them have them.
Seems like a damn good reason to get a poverty pony.
Myers, who says he's a licensed security guard, was sitting in his car Wednesday to conduct "overwatch" while his son trains because "he has seen numerous crimes occur" in the parking lot, according to the probable cause statement.
His son was taking a jiu-jitsu class next door. This guy is like peak gravy seals/tacticool wannabe.
See also
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101st Chairborne
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Cosplaytriots
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Delta Farce
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Fartilery
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GI Sloppy Joes/GI Doughs
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Goutlaws
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Gravy Seals
-
Green Buffets/Beignets
-
Irrational Guard
-
Meal Team 6
-
The National Lard
-
O-Dunkin-30
-
Operation Dessert Storm
-
The ParaMealitary
-
Patridiots
-
Timid McVeighs
-
Veteran: Normandy Beached, Cold Cuts War, Vietnaan and Dessert Storm
-
Whisky Tango Foodtruck
-
Steven Seagal clone
Wow, the article even has a section detailing why the boys were there with BB guns:
The two surviving teens told police that they were at the store to return or exchange Hazrat Ali Rohani's BB gun because he was having some issues with it, according to the police report. One of them also said that he had his own BB gun with him and brought it along so employees could check out a "magazine issue" he was having.
Myers straight up murdered the kid. Fortunately the article also points out he was arrested and the video evidence shows clear 2nd degree manslaughter, so he's going to jail, losing his guns, and most likely won't watch his kid grow up. His kid has a chance to grow up without a bad influence in his life now, so that's good.
"Myers felt like he did not have time to call 911, and that he had a duty to act to stop the individuals from hurting someone innocent, and to protect his son, who was in the location next door," according to the police report.
No time to call 911 my ass.
Fucking murderer didn't want anyone else getting the credit for his kill.
You want to know what is even more fucked up. The
Renton policeKing County Sherriff's office was conducting an emergency response drill in the same parking lot less than 250 feet away from where his car was AT THE EXACT SAME TIME THIS HAPPENED. He didn't have to "call the fucking police", he could have literally rolled down his window and screamed for help, and they would have come running. Also the police station is literally like 3 blocks away from where this store is located anyway. Fuck this dumb cunt. If it was up to me he would be getting life in prison without the possibility of parole.Edit: (Source)
Justifiable homicide fetishist: "Today is my day"
He probably imagined glowing headlines about his great heroism and vigilance
No time to call 911 my ass.
Let's be real, here. If those guys were intending to commit a violent crime, and were literally in the parking lot of the establishment they were going to commit a crime at, do you really think a call to 911 would have resulted in anyone on the scene any earlier than long after the crime had been committed?
It didn't justify his action, obviously, but come on. This isn't Night City where cops magically materialize on scene the moment something suspicious happens, lol
It's not the BB gun that got the kid killed. He literally put the gun on the ground and had his hands up.
It's because the "security guard" is a stupid, trigger-happy moron.
I agree, but for clarification it was a different teen whom he shot, who still had his BB gun.
There were 3 teens, two with BB guns. The first dropped his and was on the ground, straddled by Shooter McFuckhead when the second, still standing, was shot.
Thank god there was a "good guy with a gun" there. Otherwise nobody would have died!
To make things clear (and worse), this man wasn't even on the job! Nobody asked him to do this! He just dropped his kid off for a class nearby and decided it was his duty to shoot anyone he deemed suspicious.
Licensed Security Guard = Someone who couldn't meet the (absurdly low) minimum standards to be a cop.
I definitely don't trust those guys!
They're not that low, you have to be a frat-bro, shoot-fist, style douchebag to even be considered
And this guy couldn’t even reach that bar.
Cool. Killed a kid because no fucking reason.
"The 17-year-old shot and killed was identified as Hazrat Ali Rohani by Kent-Meridian High School Principal David Radford, according to the Kent Reporter."
And from another article:
"According to court documents, Myers said he "had a duty to act to stop the individuals from hurting someone innocent and to protect his son who was at the location next door to Big 5 Sporting Goods." "
...and ...
"Myers reiterated to detectives that the teens would not follow his commands. It should be noted that Myers is not a uniformed law enforcement officer, and they did not need to follow his commands. " source
...and....
"Myers said he thought he saw a teen reach for something in his waistband, so he fired multiple times. According to court documents, he stood over the teen on the ground and continued to fire."
So Main-Character-Syndrome middle aged guy was pointing his gun and the teenager wouldn't obey his commands, so decided to live out his vigilante fantasy and murder a teen. Lock this guy up for good.
Jesus Christ, this dude freaked out seeing kids taking a BB Gun into a sporting goods store.
Christ knows what this guy thinks seeing people go to a gun range.
Ranges (that have staff at all) mostly require guns to be cased or holstered, you'll get kicked out waving one around all willy nilly.
These are also a thing, very real looking BB guns.
Though from the description given in the post it seems the kid was shot after he put the gun down? That's a bad shoot if so.
This is a bad shooting no matter what. HE approached the kids. He instigated the confrontation. He murdered a child. There is no room for any other narrative here.
It doesn't matter if it looked like a real gun, or even if it WAS a real gun. He had a real gun too, should he also have been shot for having a real gun that looked like a real gun?
Every sporting store in my area specifically states to not bring firearms/guns into the store. I have seen many models of pellet/bb gun that look like real firearms until you handle them.
I'm not defending the actions of the security guard but rules like these could help prevent a similar situation in the future.
Point of clarification - yes, the individual may be employed as a security guard elsewhere, but he was importantly NOT a security guard in this situation. He's just a dude who dropped his kid off for a class nearby and deemed it necessary to "patrol" the area to go on power trips. He's a bully with a gun.
Myers, who says he’s a licensed security guard, was sitting in his car Wednesday to conduct “overwatch” while his son trains because “he has seen numerous crimes occur” in the parking lot, according to the probable cause statement.
Well fucking congrats for contributing to the statistic.
Radford, Rohani's principal, wrote an email to parents and students that he was "deeply saddened to inform you of another tragic passing of one of our students."
I'm sorry, another?
I mean, my high school had at least 1 suicide a year, so it’s not too much of a reach to say that some other event happened resulting in the loss of life.
Maybe it's different from when I was in high school in the 90s, but at least a couple of kids died each year because they were drunk and driving.
Kent is not the best school district...
You would be surprised how many children die because of gun violence. It’s not necessarily at the school, but at the home or situations like this.
Also due to non-gun violence too.
The ONLY way this could have been prevented is if the teen had an ACTUAL Gun and shot the Security Guard first! And the ONLY way to prevent THAT situation would be if the Security Guard shot the teen first! There's LITERALLY no other way we could play this scenario out!
I'm so tired of hearing this argument.
Of course there's a better way this could be resolved, no matter how much you try to pretend otherwise.
A cop could shoot both of them and their dogs. And that's peak freedom. Maybe think about that next time.
What if we put a sniper on a nearby roof, to shoot them both as they approached eachother, but before any crime had occurred.
When there’s a shitload of people carrying around hammers there’s going to be a bunch of them trying to find a nail.
Good guys with guns sure seem pretty afraid of other good guys with guns.
I mean, going from this example it seems like everyone should be afraid of good guys with guns.
Why would anyone not be?
The victim wasn't a "good guy". He was brown. Only white conservatives are "good guys".
See, it's this bullshit. This well-intentioned man, actively employed in a fashion that would train him, fucked up, and killed someone's child. When it comes to the use of deadly force, there is no take-backs, no do-overs, no second chances. How many people handle guns perfectly? Now take that person with perfect gun knowledge and drop them in a situation where they don't know everything, are only given a small glimpse of what could be a weapon, and BAM, you have a tragic loss of life because in reality, 99% of the time it's just somebody being stupid, and not doing anything that should result in their death.
well-intentioned
No. The article says
conduct “overwatch”
Meaning off the clock surveillance, for the purpose of engaging in vigilantism.
I meant that, in his mind, he had "good intentions." That's where the distinction comes in, as everyone walking around with a gun, is really just waiting for their moment to "save the day." And when you go looking for something, odds are you'll find it. And by that I mean that they'll assume whatever scenario their in IS their moment to "save the day," as they ultimately ignore contrary evidence and push aside any doubts as to the situations innocence, because they want so badly to be seen as a hero that saved the day.
Dude decided to play cowboy, found himself a situation in which he saw two teenagers with what looked like weapons, ignored the fact that they weren't attempting to conceal themselves or their "weapons," ignored their body language and demeanor, ignored his doubts, and killed somebodys child. And that, ultimately, is going to be the fate of most people who walk around with guns, you're going to end up hurting someone close to you, or someone entirely innocent, and then you'll spend the rest of your life unable to sleep or rest because you decided deadly force was necessary when it absolutely wasn't.
Get this man a badge!
Security guards are often losers wanting to feel like they have power who tried to become cops but failed. It's to an extent where you'll frequently see them (often illegally) put flashing lights on their "security vehicle" and plaster decals meant to mimic those of police on it. Some of them even buy a bunch of stolen police equipment to wear around them and put in their car. A large portion of the people that get arrested and charged with impersonating law enforcement is security guards. It's sad but it's also disgusting the lengths they will go to cosplay for their power trip.
These kinds of people are way more trigger happy than normal.