Phoenix police fatally shot a man after they alleged he threw rocks at their patrol vehicle. Relatives of the deceased want answers, questioning why nonlethal force was not used in detaining their loved one, especially since he suffered from a history of mental health issues, but will hold off on sending a ‘notice of claim’ to start lawsuit.
According to Sgt. Brian Bower, a spokesperson with Phoenix police, Ali Osman, 34, was killed on Saturday, Sept. 24 around 6:45 p.m. by an officer, after his and another team’s “cars were struck by unknown items causing damage,” as they drove through the intersection of 19th Ave. and Tuckey Lane, NBC News reports.
A police-issued news release said an officer said he saw someone “throwing rocks towards his patrol car.” Now identified as Osman, the man would not stop hitting the car with rocks despite being told to stop.
“That’s when the officer-involved shooting occurred striking the man,” police said.
In a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 27, Osman’s family lawyer Quacy Smith said the officers were in the vicinity responding to a non-related incident when Osman started throwing the rocks.
“Rocks. Rocks. Not boulders. Not bricks. Rocks,” Smith remarked. “These are rocks no bigger than my 4-year-old son throws over the backyard to the neighbor’s house.”
The lawyer had a plastic bag filled with examples of the sort of rocks that hit the police car. They were no bigger than gravel and not large at all.
“We all have concerns,” Smith said. “We don’t want police officers having rocks thrown at them — and I think the family agrees with that as well. But, larger than that, we don’t want people being killed for doing so.”
Smith, who said he is an ex-cop, said he could not “fathom a set of circumstances described to us that would warrant this young Black man being shot down by police in the streets of our city for throwing rocks.”
The attorney also mentioned that a video existed where a bystander tried to step in to de-escalate the situation.
But then, the cop shot the troubled man as he bent down to get another rock.
The lawyer also said on Wednesday, Sept. 28, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner released the man’s body to the family, who hired their own expert to conduct a separate, private autopsy.
Preliminary information, according to Smith, shows Osman was shot at least three times in the neck. The examiner noted there is a possibility of him being shot by another bullet also in his neck.
Results from the second family-commissioned autopsy are not available, but the lawyer said the process is deeply impacting the family, who are struggling to come to terms with his death.
He said, “We had an independent autopsy done of Ali yesterday, and it broke my heart when Halima (Ali’s sister) said to me, ‘I haven’t even seen my brother yet. I don’t even know if it’s really him that’s dead.'”
The family is still waiting for the requested police bodycam footage.
A spokesperson for the city released a statement on Wednesday, Sept. 28, saying, “The City of Phoenix Police Department is committed to our transparency policy.”
The remark promised the PPD would release a “Critical Incident Briefing video within 14 days of the incident to the public that will provide facts of the case. In addition, all body-worn cameras will be released.”
Despite the statement on Friday, the family said the police department has not released their condolences directly to them.
Mayor Kate Gallego said she stressed to the police chief that she wanted the shooting to be made a priority investigation and extended her condolences to Osman’s family.
“My heart goes out to Mr. Osman’s family. Our goal is always that people in our community, and our employees, return home to their families safely,”
The bereaved family was also in attendance at the news conference, hoping to humanize their relatives.
His older sister said she could not believe her brother whom she helped raise was gone, saying, “Ali’s not coming back. I need justice for Ali. … My life is done. Ali is like my son.”
Ikran Aden, Osman’s niece, shared her pain through tears, saying, “Every day we grieve. We don’t sleep. We see him in our face. How can we get through that?”
Osman’s father shared he “was a good man” despite his illness, who “took care of everyone.”
Loay Alyousfi, a close friend of Osman for 20 years, according to AZ Central, thought it was out of character for his buddy to throw rocks, but believed the officer’s response demonstrated excessive force and lack of discretion.
“What kind of message are we going to send to everybody if it’s OK to shoot over throwing rocks at them,” Alyousfi said. “Police are trained to do better — to know better. I just think that wasn’t done here. Something needs to be done.”
The friend painted the picture of a beloved friend he connected with after Osman and his family arrived in the United States as Somali refugees. The two were more like brothers than friends and when Alyousfi’s father died, Osman helped him through those dark days.
Osman, the friend informed, also contributed greatly to the community and could be described as sociable and hardworking. At the age of 16, he started managing a shoe store and eventually went on to own a medical transport company.
To make matters more heartbreaking, Osman was scheduled to make a trip to Kenya on Tuesday, the day of the news conference, to see his mother. He had not seen his mother in 17 years.
The lawyer said, “Instead of his body flying to Kenya, his body was driven to a mortuary.”
A “notice of claim,” has not been filed to make the Phoenix Police Department or the city aware of the upcoming lawsuit. They are waiting out of respect for the family, who planned the Islamic memorial service for Osman at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe on Friday, Sept. 30 at 11 a.m.
Afterward, he was buried in a traditional ceremony at Al Rahma Muslim Cemetery near Maricopa.
“Our entire community is devastated by the death of Ali Osman,” said Mohamed Arif, a board member of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects.
He continued, “In the Islamic faith, it is believed that when one person is killed, it is as if everyone in the whole world were killed, and when one person is saved, it is as if everyone in the whole world were saved.”
“Ali’s life deserved to be saved that night,” Arif declared.
Azza Abuseif, Executive Director of the Arizona chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, stated after the service, “We’re here today as a painful reminder that islamophobia and anti-blackness will leave no city untouched. We are asking the police department to be transparent with the family.”
Once the service is over and he gets the go-ahead from the family, the defendants will be placed on alert.
