Teenager shot and killed at Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Renton, Washington

CNN
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A gunman who “took it upon himself” to guard a sporting goods store in suburban Seattle has been charged with murder after fatally shooting a teenager in the back who had an airsoft gun in his pocket, prosecutors said.

Aaron Brown Myers, 51, was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree assault for the killing of a 17-year-old, identified as HR, according to court documents. The teen was shot in the side and at least six times in the back, and died at the scene, according to the documents.

“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 the life of HR, 17 years,” King County said. wrote Senior Assistant Prosecutor Lauren M. Burke in a case summary and bail request.

In a statement released Wednesday, Myers' lawyers said he was a “professional security consultant” and argued he fired in self-defense.

“We are confident that during this investigation the evidence will show that Mr. Myers' sole intention that day was to protect himself and others from serious injury or death,” attorneys Michelle said Scudder and Zachary Wagnild in an email to CNN.

The incident began on the evening of June 5 when HR and two other teenagers approached a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Renton, Washington, according to court documents.

HR had an airsoft gun in a pocket and a teenage friend, identified as BA, had an airsoft gun in his coat pocket, according to court documents.

Myers, who is not a member of law enforcement, had decided to conduct a “stakeout” of the parking lot and “immediately assumed” that the three teens were about to commit a violent robbery, the prosecutor wrote . Overwatch is a military term for surveillance of a location.

He got out of his vehicle and pointed his gun at the trio, ordering them to stop, drop their weapons and get on the ground, according to the documents. The teens complied and BA placed the airsoft gun on the ground, claiming it was just a “BB gun,” according to the prosecutor.

The 51-year-old then tackled BA and slammed him to the ground, documents state. HR had his hands in the air and was walking backwards, and Myers then shot him at least seven times, killing the teen, according to the case summary.

Myers was arrested at the scene and remains in custody at the King County Correctional Center on $2 million bail, according to jail records. His arraignment is set for June 24.

His lawyers said he acted because he believed he was witnessing a crime in progress.

“Mr. Myers and his family are devastated by this tragedy and the fact that it resulted in the loss of a young man's life,” the attorneys wrote. “On the evening in question, Mr. Myers honestly believed that he was witnessing the beginning of an armed robbery when he saw three young men pass his truck as they headed toward a store adjacent to where his son was attending a martial arts class.

“When he saw one of the men remove a firearm from his waistband, Mr. Myers, a professional security consultant, intervened quickly in hopes of stopping the robbery before anyone was injured. Unfortunately, during the confrontation, Mr. Myers feared for his own life and fired his service weapon in self-defense.

According to a probable cause document filed by the Renton Police Department, parts of the incident were captured on surveillance video from the Big 5 store and a martial arts business. CNN is working to obtain the videos, which have not been made public.

According to the document, the video shows Myers approaching two of the teens and pointing a gun at them, causing BA to put the airsoft gun down and show his hands empty. HR also extended his fingers to show that his hands were empty and began to turn his body, the document states. Both of his hands were first raised above his head, then his right arm was briefly lowered before Myers – who was straddling BA on the ground – opened fire, the document states.

BA told detectives that he and HR liked to go into the woods and shoot things, but HR's airsoft gun was having problems, so they would go to the sporting goods store to exchange or return it, the document states. BA said his airsoft gun was in his coat pocket and HR did not pull out his airsoft gun, according to the documents.

“BA stated that he repeatedly told Myers that the weapons were BB guns,” the document states.

After he was shot, HR called his mother, the third teen, identified as SA, told investigators.

In an interview with police, Myers said he was conducting “surveillance” at the scene and “had seen numerous crimes occurring in the parking lot in the past,” according to a probable cause affidavit. Myers said he saw three men walking in front of his parked vehicle and noticed one of them had a gun, and he thought they were going to commit an armed robbery, the affidavit states.

“Myers stated that he felt like he did not have time to call 911 and felt he had a duty to act to prevent individuals from harming an innocent person,” the affidavit states.

The affidavit says “many” details Myers told police were “inconsistent” with surveillance video.

Myers was previously involved in an incident in March 2022 in which he chose to “intervene” when he mistakenly believed someone was armed, according to the document.

In that case, Myers called 911 to report that a person on a bike was pointing a gun at people, and Myers said he had a gun and might have to intervene, the affidavit states. Myers then followed the cyclist and told police he thought he might have to shoot the person. Officers arrived on scene and determined the cyclist's object was not a firearm but “a silver metal object that may have been part of a bicycle,” the document states.

Burke, the prosecutor, wrote that this earlier incident “establishes that this self-imposed 'duty to intervene' is part of the defendant's habitual approach to his interactions with the public.”

“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,” he said. -she writes.