The Hamilton Paramedic Service says it’s investigating after complaints in the wake of the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man downtown on Dec. 2.
Yosif Al Hasnawi died after being shot while trying to defend an older man who was being accosted by two suspects about 9 p.m. He had just left the Al Mustafa Islamic Centre on Main Street East near Wentworth Street.
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Some witnesses have questioned the EMS response claiming the ambulance took a long time to arrive and the paramedics didn’t appear to take the injuries seriously.
LISTEN: Witness Amin Al Tahir joins the Bill Kelly Show
Amin Al Tahir with the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre says he was shocked by what he saw.
He says “for more than 20 minutes we asked the paramedics to take him to hospital and they said ‘No, he was just fine. When he saw you coming he started acting out.’ And they started to laugh with each other. We told them ‘Please, take him to the hospital. He has difficulty breathing.’ They decided to take him because people came more and more.”
Al Tahir adds it was unbelievable and fears “the bad assessment of the injury” contributed to the death.
Hamilton Paramedic Service told Global News that the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care will also be looking into the case in light of information that has been received.
Meantime, Hamilton police have issued a warrant for the arrest of 19-year-old Dale Burningsky King on a charge of second-degree murder. He remains at large.
Police have made one arrest in connection with al-Hasnawi’s death: 20-year-old James Matheson has been charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder.
A previous version of this story referenced a GoFundMe page set up to raise funds for the victim’s funeral. Hamilton police said Thursday that the fundraiser was not authorized by the family and that the major fraud branch is investigating.