Off-duty security guard charged with murder after teen shot six times in back

RENTON, Wash. (KOMO) — The King County, Washington, District Attorney's Office has formally charged an off-duty security guard with second-degree murder and second-degree assault for the fatal shooting of a Renton teenager.

As part of the charging decision, prosecutors said Aaron Brown Myers, 51, shot Hazrat Ali Rouhani, 17, a total of seven times, including six times in the back. Prosecutors argued that Rouhani could not have posed a threat to Myers since the teen was allegedly turned toward Myers at the time of the incident.

The homicide happened June 5 in front of the Big 5 Sporting Goods store on Grady Way in Renton.

In court records, police noted that Myers was an off-duty armed security guard. Although he had no authority to provide security at that specific location, police said he told them he was offering “surveillance” at the mall due to increased crime. in the parking lot.

Police said Myers was waiting for his teenage son to leave jujitsu classes at the martial arts studio next to the sporting goods store when three teenagers drove past his car. According to court documents, he observed one of the teens carrying a weapon that appeared to be a Glock pistol.

“(The suspect) thought the group was going to commit an armed robbery there,” investigators noted. Police said Myers told them he felt he didn't have enough time to call 911 to prevent the suspected armed robbery, so to protect his nearby son, he said “that he had a duty to arrest individuals.”

Immediately afterward, police said Myers told them he got out of his vehicle and pointed his safety gun at the three teens, ordering them to drop the gun and put their hands on it. air. At that point, police said the teen carrying the gun obeyed Myers' commands and threw the gun to the ground. According to court documents, Myers then grabbed the teen so the boy could not retrieve the gun that was on the ground.

When that happened, police said Myers thought Rouhani was reaching for a gun located in that teen's waistband. That's when police say Myers fired seven times. After the first shots, Myers stood on the ground over Rouhani and continued shooting, according to court documents.

Rouhani died instantly. Police said security video showed Rouhani only briefly lowering his hand to his waist and saying so throughout the interaction. Rouhani's hands were empty.

According to investigators, the teenagers were carrying airsoft guns. According to the two surviving teens, one of the boys “was having trouble operating the airsoft gun and wanted to take it to Big 5 Sporting Goods to return or exchange.” Additionally, police said Rouhani also carried an airsoft gun to the sporting goods store because he “wanted help with a magazine issue he was having with the firearm.”

“The 17-year-olds were trying to tell (the suspect) that they were just BB guns, but the confrontation escalated so quickly that unfortunately (the suspect's) gun went off,” Meeghan said Black from the Renton Police Department.

Investigators said the security footage contradicted Myers' statements during his police interview, according to court documents.

In newly released court documents, prosecutors said this was not the first time Myers chose to “interfere” when he believed someone was armed and that person had not committed a crime.

“In March 2022, the defendant followed a person carrying a metal object he believed to be a firearm from one store, through another store, and away from the second store, all because he might need to intervene and may have to shoot the person,” prosecutors wrote. “In this case, because the defendant called 911, trained law enforcement officers responded and were able to quickly determine that the person (Myers) who was following him did not have a weapon and was not representing no threat, no one getting hurt in the process.”