Washington teen bringing replica gun to store shot by security guard | Crime in the United States

A teenager who tried to return a faulty replica gun firing plastic projectiles to a Washington state sporting goods store was shot and killed by an off-duty security guard who thought the boy was holding a real gun and planned to rob the business, authorities said.

The man arrested in the killing, Aaron Myers, 51, told police he was not working when he fatally shot Hazrat Ali Rouhani, who was returning a defective airsoft gun to the Big 5 store in Renton. But he had offered to stake out the scene due to a suspected rise in crime in the area.

Investigators said the security footage, which has not been made public, contradicted Myers' statements to police, leading to his arrest. Authorities also said Myers was not a law enforcement officer and therefore “was not trained in how to safely prevent crime” despite his employment as a security guard.

Rouhani's death is the latest in a series of shootings across the United States involving people approaching homes or businesses for innocent reasons.

Experts say the United States, which has more guns than people, experiences a disproportionate number of these shootings because people assume — often wrongly — that they can use guns safely. impunity through lax gun laws and generally permissive self-defense statutes.

Myers was reportedly waiting for his son to get out of jiu-jitsu class at the martial arts studio next to the Big 5 when three teenagers walked past his car, including one who was holding an airsoft gun that Myers said appeared to be a Glock pistol .

Police said Myers then pointed the gun he was given for his security work at the teens and told them to put their hands in the air. Meeghan Black, a spokesperson for Renton police, told CBS that the teens immediately complied and tried to explain that their gun was not real.

But Black said Myers fired several shots after saying “the confrontation escalated…rapidly,” hitting and killing 17-year-old Rouhani.

Police said Myers stood over Rouhani and continued shooting, which he claimed he did because he thought one of the teen's companions was reaching for a gun in Rouhani's waistband .

A police statement said King County Sheriff's Office deputies were finishing a training exercise nearby when they heard the shooting. They attempted to provide first aid to Rouhani, but he died at the scene, the sheriff's office said.

The other teens present during the incident told police they were “experiencing problems with the airsoft gun operating and wanted to return it” to the store to return or exchange it, officials said. Teenagers said they needed help with 'a magazine issue [Rohani] what he had with the gun.”

In court documents, King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion claimed that Myers “took it upon himself to conduct 'surveillance' in a Renton parking lot, despite the fact that he was not a member of the force order and therefore had not been trained in how to safely prevent crime.”

“Rather than call 911 or wait for any evidence to confirm or deny his hypothesis, he claimed he had a 'duty to intervene' and he did so,” Manion added. .

Myers faces two counts of second-degree murder and assault. He could face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the charges against him.