Family of armed man killed by Dearborn Police demand answers
DEARBORN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The family of a man shot by Dearborn police over the weekend wants to know more about the moments before his death.
Investigators say that man showed up armed and tried to shoot an officer who killed him. Now a pair of attorneys, Amir Makled and Cyril Hall, are seeking answers on behalf of the victim's family.
"The mere fact that somebody's carrying a gun is not a crime in and of itself," Makled said.
At this point, it's unknown why Ali Naji walked into Dearborn Police Headquarters Sunday afternoon armed.
According to police, the 33-year-old pulled out a stolen 9mm handgun and pointed it at an officer.
"Was the police officer or anybody in the lobby, if anybody was even in the lobby, in any immediate threat?" Makled said.
Authorities have said the officer at the front desk was behind a sliding window made out of bulletproof glass.
"Did they give him time to walk away? Did they give him the opportunity to walk away?" Makled wondered.
Naji's gun allegedly malfunctioned, at which time the officer fired, killing the married man who was about to be a father.
"We have a child who is going to grow up without a father because Dearborn police decided to take this young man's life when maybe, just maybe, they could have done something to de-escalate the situation and allowed him an opportunity and the time to put this firearm down," Makled said.
It's unclear how long the encounter lasted before the officer pulled the trigger. Still, an expert in law enforcement training believes de-escalation techniques could have been easier said than done.
"If it jammed and he went and dropped the gun, that's different. If he's trying to reload, the officer only has a split second to make that decision. You don't know if this individual had mental issues—suicide by cop—or if he just wanted to kill a police officer," Steve Dolunt, a retired Assistant Chief at the Detroit Police Department, told CBS Detroit.
The Michigan State Police is leading the shooting investigation and hasn't released additional information on the case. They're still talking to witnesses, waiting for the autopsy report and, eventually, a prosecutor's review of the incident.
A spokesperson for MSP told CBS Detroit on Tuesday that any civil aspect of this case doesn't impact the criminal aspects they're looking at.
