Off-duty guard charged with killing Seattle-area teen after mistaking toy for gun, authorities say

An off-duty security guard was charged with murder after authorities said he stopped three teenagers outside a store near Seattle because they had what he believed to be a gun, while he It was actually an airsoft gun.

King County prosecutors charged Aaron Brown Myers on Monday with the second-degree murder of Hazrat Ali Rouhani, 17, outside a Big 5 sporting goods store in Renton, Washington. Myers, 51, also faces a second-degree assault charge after authorities say he held another teen at gunpoint.

Myers is being held in the King County Jail on $2 million bail. Telephone and email messages left with his attorney, Michelle Scudder, were not immediately returned. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 24 in Kent, Washington.

The three teens went to the store around 7:30 p.m. on June 5 to return a faulty airsoft gun, two of them later told police. They walked past Myers, who then told police he had just been on duty as a “licensed” and “armed” security guard and was sitting in his vehicle waiting to pick up his son to a martial arts class. It is unclear where Myers works as a security guard.

Myers told police he noticed a teen carrying what he believed to be a Glock handgun and thought he saw another teen put a gun in his waistband. Thinking he had to stop an armed robbery, Myers told police he didn't have time to call 911 and instead got out of the car with his gun pointed at the teens .

Myers said he had “a duty to intervene,” prosecutors said.

As Myers approached, one of the teens moved to the side and the other two stopped, raised their hands and one of them placed the airsoft gun on the sidewalk, repeating several times to Myers that it was a “BB gun” and not a firearm.

Myers then pushed one of the boys to the sidewalk and straddled him while holding the back of his jacket, according to the probable cause document filed by Renton police. Myers continued to point the gun at Rouhani as he held his hands out in front of him, showing Myers they were empty, police said.

“The defendant failed to take the obvious step of securing the toy gun, rather than assaulting the teenager who was carrying it,” Lauren Burke, senior deputy prosecutor for King County, said in a court filing. court.

Rouhani began to back away and turned slightly to the left and Myers opened fire, hitting the teen once on the right side and six times in the back. The video shows Rouhani holding his stomach as he falls to the ground, calling for his mother. The other teen ran for cover and called 911.

Rouhani died at the scene and police immediately arrested Myers.

Although Myers had no criminal history or outstanding arrest warrants, prosecutors said the lengthy prison sentence he could face made him a flight risk, so they requested bail of 2 million dollars.

“Only high bail, electronic house arrest and the surrender of all firearms will protect the community from an untrained civilian who believes he has a duty to shoot people who have hurt no one,” Burke said.

Myers had attempted to intervene in what he thought was a crime in March 2022, police said. He called 911 and told police he saw a person on a bicycle pointing a gun at people, police said. He followed the person to a store until police arrived. Officers determined the person did not have a weapon and posed no threat, police said.

“In this case, the defendant attacked three teenagers who had committed no crime and, at each stage of the interaction, chose to escalate the violence, until the defendant took their lives “said Rouhani, 17. said.