24 Hour Emergency Response 604-644-9229 (BC) 780-995-9229 (AB) 416-628-3393 (ON)
24 Hour Emergency Response 604-644-9229 (BC) 780-995-9229 (AB) 416-628-3393 (ON)
A witness, who wished only to use his first name Rafael, tells ABC 4 News he was inside the office Monday morning when he heard a commotion behind him. “Seemed like he was very upset at something and so the officer was trying to like pretty much escort him out of the building.”
Instead the suspect, now identified as 21-year-old Rujal Hassan Abdi, started shoving the security officer and witnesses say the fight went to the ground.
“They were wresting on the ground, by this point when they fell to the ground all the brothers jumped in and that’s when me and maybe two other guys jumped in and tried to get people off of each other,” said Rafael.
Punches were exchanged, more people got involved, and then police say at some point a shot was fired.
Sgt. Robert Hamilton with the West Valley Police Department said, “The security guard’s weapon did come out. We’re not sure at this point how that happened but one shot was fired, nobody was struck by that shot and nobody was injured.”
But witnesses tell us the security officer fired a warning shot into the ceiling in an attempt to stop the melee. Rafael said, “As I turned around the officer already had his gun out and he had shot a fire, fired a shot at the ceiling. At that point everyone was like super scared and people were screaming and he just pointed the gun at the gentleman on the ground.”
West Valley City Police arrived and initially took two people into custody, a 17-year-old and Abdi but 21-year-old Abdi was the only one to be charged. It’s unclear if the security guard will face any sort of consequences.
“I can just imagine what was running through his mind,” said Rafael. “I mean like you have a whole bunch of people surrounding you, you just got tossed to the ground and punched in the face a few times.”
Police are now interviewing the security guard.
