Yosif Al-Hasnawi, 19, was shot and killed in Hamilton in December 2017 as he tried to break up a fight, police said.AL-MOSTAFA ISLAMIC CENTRE PHOTO/Handout
Ontario’s police watchdog says there are no grounds to lay charges against an officer in relation to the death of a 19-year-old who was helping a man being accosted outside a Hamilton mosque.
Yosif Al-Hasnawi died after being shot in the abdomen on Dec. 2, 2017 as he stepped in to help an older man.
Witnesses alleged paramedics and a police officer on scene did not take Mr. Al-Hasnawi’s injuries seriously.
The Special Investigations Unit says a witness complained that a police officer told Mr. Al-Hasnawi to stop faking an injury and alleged the officer’s attitude resulted in delaying Mr. Al-Hasnawi’s transportation to hospital, resulting in his death.
The SIU says the officer’s actions didn’t contribute directly or indirectly to Mr. Al-Hasnawi’s death because police had transferred care of the man to the paramedics after observing an injury that didn’t appear to be serious because it was a small hole with little blood.
Hamilton police charged one man with second-degree murder and another with accessory after the fact in relation to the shooting, and two paramedics have been charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.