Hamilton police say they have asked a neighbouring police service to conduct a criminal investigation into the conduct of paramedics who responded to the fatal shooting of Yosif Al-Hasnawi in Hamilton earlier this month.
Al-Hasnawi, 19, was shot to death Dec. 2 after intervening in a dispute between two young men and an older male who was being accosted, investigators said.
Al-Hasnawi’s father Majed told CTV News Toronto that when paramedics arrived, they left his son bleeding on the street where he was shot.
Majed and other witnesses said the paramedics were laughing at the situation, one told Al-Hasnawi to “stop acting” and that they indicated they thought he was shot with a pellet gun and not a real firearm.
The teen uttered the words “I cannot breathe” to his father before he was transported to hospital.
Another witness told CTV News Toronto that the paramedics handled Al-Hasnawi roughly, like a “baggage handler at the airport.”
He was pronounced dead in hospital a short time after he was transported.
Two Hamilton men, Dale Burningsky King, 19, and James Anthony Robert Matheson, 20, have been arrested and charged in relation to the fatal shooting.
King faces a charge of second-degree murder while Matheson has been charged with accessory after the fact.
Immediately after the incident, Hamilton Paramedic Services asked the provincial ministry of health to begin an investigation.
On Wednesday, Hamilton police said they asked officers with Niagara Regional Police to “conduct a criminal investigation into the emergency medical care provided on scene to Yosif Al-Hasnawi.”
“Niagara Regional Police Service has agreed to conduct the criminal investigation in order to ensure a fair and impartial investigation is completed,” Hamilton police said Wednesday.
