Prosecutor: No charges in fatal shooting of Ali Naji at Dearborn police station
DEARBORN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announced no charges will be issued in the fatal shooting of Ali Naji at the Dearborn police station in December.
Officials say facts and evidence from the incident show that the officer acted in self-defense. In addition to no charges being issued, the warrant request was denied.
The incident happened at 3:32 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2022.
On this day, there were several people in an out of the station as police were collecting Christmas presents for Toys for Tots.
Officials say Ali Naji, 33, of Dearborn, walked into the station, and within seconds he pulled out a gun, pointed it at the officer in the lobby and pulled the trigger. The weapon failed and he tried to remove and reinsert the magazine.
The officer that Naji pulled the trigger at was sitting behind a bullet-resistant acrylic window in front of the desk, and when he saw Naji, he retreated and reappeared five seconds later with his gun.
Officials say he opened a window and fired his gun multiple times. Naji was pulling back the slide on his weapon when he was struck.
The entire incident took about 13 seconds.
According to police, when they recovered Naji's gun, the safety was off and there was one round in the chamber.
He was transported to a local hospital and pronounced deceased.
Further investigation revealed Naji had just stolen the gun from a local barbershop he used to work at before the incident.
Police say there was no known motive, and Naji had a history of mental health issues.
"We may never know why Mr. Naji walked into the Dearborn Police Department with a loaded weapon attempting to fire it at a police officer. My office will not be issuing charges in this case. Although extremely tragic, this is a clear case where the officer acted in lawful self-defense and in the defense of others," said Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
