The province’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has launched an investigation into a police officer’s actions, in connection with the death of a Hamilton man outside a mosque last December.
Yosif Al-Hasnawi, 19, was shot on Dec. 2, 2017, while trying to break up a fight on Sanford Avenue North.
The victim’s father, Majed Hasnawi, has said first responders left his son bleeding on the street as he complained that he couldn’t breathe.
“The paramedic [was] telling him [to] stop acting,” Majed Al-Hasnawi said at the time.
Another witness told CTV News Toronto that paramedics handled Yosif Al-Hasnawi roughly as they transported him into an ambulance.
He was pronounced dead shortly after being taken to hospital.
In a statement released on Friday, the SIU said reports about the actions of first responders prompted them to launch a preliminary investigation to determine if the unit’s mandate should be invoked.
“Based on the results of those preliminary inquiries, which included medical evidence, the SIU can confirm that it is investigating the role of one Hamilton Police Service officer in relation to this incident,” the statement said.
The officer has not been identified.
The SIU has also pinpointed two officers who were witnesses to the incident.
Anyone who has information about the death or any video evidence is being urged to contact the SIU.
The unit is called in to investigate whenever police are involved in an incident that results in serious injury or death.
Two paramedics have been charged in the case, with failing to provide the necessaries of life. The union representing them confirmed earlier this month that the two men have also been fired.
Two men have been charged in the stabbing. Dale Buringsky King, 19, faces one count of second-degree murder, and James Anthony Robert Matheson, 20, has been charged with accessory after the fact.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Yosif Al-Hasnawi’s family has also launched a lawsuit against Hamilton paramedics for $10 million. The suit also names Hamilton police, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and the two men charged in the shooting.
