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Off-duty security guard found guilty of murder, assault
A jury found Aaron Brown Myers, 51, guilty of murder and assault for the 2024 shooting of a teenager outside a Renton sporting goods store.
KING COUNTY, Wash. - A jury found Aaron Brown Myers, 51, guilty of murder and assault for the 2024 shooting of a teenager outside a Renton sporting goods store.
Myers, an off-duty armed security guard, claimed he shot the teen because he believed the boy was armed and preparing to rob the business.
A jury found Aaron Brown Myers, 51, guilty of murder and assault for the 2024 shooting of a teenager outside a Renton sporting goods store.
The backstory:
Myers confronted three teenagers outside a Big 5 Sporting Goods store at the Renton Village Shopping Center in June 2024.
Myers told detectives he believed the teens were about to commit an armed robbery and felt he had a "duty to act" to protect his son, who was at a nearby gym. However, court documents reveal the weapon the 17-year-old victim, Hazrat Ali Rohani, carried was an airsoft gun.
While the teens initially put their hands up and dropped the airsoft gun, Myers fired multiple times, eventually standing over Rohani and continuing to shoot as he lay on the ground.
The incident occurred while Myers was waiting to pick up his 13-year-old son from a jiu-jitsu class.
Although Myers was an armed security guard, he was not employed to protect that shopping center.
In Washington, a citizen's arrest is only permitted if a person actually sees a crime being committed. Private citizens do not have the legal authority to detain people based solely on the belief that a crime might happen in the future.
During the investigation, Myers told detectives he didn't have time to call 911 because he needed to stop the individuals from hurting someone. One of the teens was heard on surveillance shouting, "what the f---, man?" while backing away with his hands in the air before the shots were fired.]
What's next:
Meyers' sentencing range is 10–18 years, 10 years for firearm enhancement. He is set to be sentenced on July 21.
The Source: Information in this story came from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.
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