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Originally published on National Law Journal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
This story has been updated.
Authorities in Ohio have released a dash-cam video of a police officer shooting and killing a 26-year-old Case Western Reserve University School of Law student from the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 4 outside Cleveland.
The five-minute video does not capture the actual shooting, which occurs off-screen, but includes audio of the officer’s instructions to Saif Nasser Mubarak Alameri and what appears to be a brief struggle between the two men.
Police released the video Thursday, and investigators said Tuesday that Alameri did not have a weapon. They have not released the results of Alameri’s toxicology report. They have identified the officer involved as Ryan Doran, a 12-year veteran of the Hudson Police Department. Hudson is a small town south of Cleveland.
According to police, Alameri was driving a 2009 Toyota Camry erratically on the Ohio Turnpike the afternoon of Dec. 4 when he sideswiped another vehicle and flipped his car over. He then fled into nearby woods, where Doran encountered him near a service road about an hour later.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Alameri’s death a homicide, and Doran has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation, which is being handled by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Saif Nasser Mubarak Alameri
Alameri’s death at the hands of a police officer has received relatively little national attention in the United States, but has been prominently covered in the United Arab Emirates. Alameri’s father, Nasser Alameri, told media outlets there that his son obtained a bachelor’s in law at the United Arab Emirates University and arrived at Case Western this summer for the LL.M. program. His funeral was held in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
“Saif was my rock, I relied on him for everything,” Nassar told the website Al-Arabiya. “He was a practicing Muslim and an amazing person. He paid close attention to his mother and his brothers. We spoke two days before the incident. He seemed very normal.”
A Case Western spokesman confirmed Monday that Alameri was in the LL.M. program. Case Western’s website said the university held a gathering Wednesday for students with questions or concerns about the incident. Alameri planned to return to the United Arab Emirates and open a law firm, according to the university.
“Our entire school community is deeply saddened by this heartbreaking loss,” said co-law deans Jessica Berg and Michael Scharf in a statement. “We extend our deepest sympathies to Saif’s family and friends, and will provide support to his classmates and other students as they try to cope with this tragedy.”
Both the Ohio National Lawyers’ Guild and Black Lives Matter Cleveland have called for a thorough investigation of the killing, and have raised questions about whether the shooting was justified.
“Running from the police does not justify the use of deadly force,” said Jacqueline Greene, co-coordinator of the Ohio National Lawyers’ Guild.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the Unites States, Yousef Al Otaiba, issued a statement Friday saying he had been in touch with Ohio Gov. John Kasich about the killing and that the consulate sent a team of people, including officials from the Abu Dhabi Police Department, to Hudson to “represent the interests of Mr. Alameri’s family.”
The dash-cam video shows Doran pulling onto a dirt access road before spotting Alameri off camera. For nearly a minute, Doran can be heard ordering Alameri to stop and get on the ground before the audio muddles during an apparent struggle for 20 seconds before Doran fires six shots.
The medical examiners office determined that Alameri was shot five times and died of a gunshot to the head.
Contact Karen Sloan at [email protected]. On Twitter: @KarenSloanNLJ.
