ismail hamed arizona shooting maricopa county sheriff
Courtesy Arizona Republic and Maricopa County Sheriff

In January, a Fountain Hills Arizona man who claimed loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, dialed 911 and told the operator he wanted to talk to a police officer so he could “deal with him.” When Sgt. Brandon Wells responded, 18-year-old Ismail Hamed first threw rocks at the officer and then drew a knife.

After continuing to approach the officer and defying the officer’s repeated orders to drop the knife, Wells shot Hamed twice.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s department declined to release bodycam video of the altercation. After a legal fight waged by local media outlets, the video of the incident was recently released.

The footage [possibly NSFW] shows what happened.

From the Arizona Republic report it seems that Hamed was determined to commit suicide by cop.

Wells points his gun at Hamed and tells him to back off. Hamed pulls out a knife. Wells repeatedly tells Hamed to drop his knife, as Hamed walks toward the deputy. The deputy threatens to shoot Hamed if he doesn’t drop the knife.

“Shoot me,” Hamed tells Wells.

Wells fires twice, injuring Hamed.

Hamed survived the gunshot wounds and is facing some extremely serious charges.

A complaint filed by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office alleges Hamed “intentionally or knowingly, did provide advice, assistance, direction or management” to the terrorist organization ISIS, which is listed under several formal names, including the Islamic State of Iraq al-Sham.

He is facing one count of terrorism under state law, a Class 2 felony, for that allegation.

Hamed faces a second count of terrorism for his actions on Jan. 7, the night he was shot and wounded by a deputy in Fountain Hills outside the town’s government complex.

Additionally, Hamed is facing a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which was filed prior to the terrorism charges were filed.

It isn’t clear why the Maricopa County Sheriff and prosecutors were reluctant to release the 911 audio and bodycam footage. From the video, Sgt. Wells appears to have given Hamed every opportunity to drop the knife and allowed him to get uncomfortably close to him before opening fire.

Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said at a news conference Thursday that his and the prosecutor’s office decided it was best that the records not be released immediately to the public. But he didn’t say what made this case unique from other criminal cases, or what merited sealing them from the public.

In the end, a county judge agreed with the media outlets and order that the audio and video — which are public records — be released.

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63 COMMENTS

  1. What’s with the one-handed hold? I know the action was close, but is that current training?

    And then 2 rounds fired and the guy will still recover? Dang!

    • Remember, they were only handgun rounds. Probably a different outcome if he had been shot with a rifle.

    • Um… handgun wounds have an over 80% survival rate. Believe it or not, guns are not magic death rays that make the bad guy fly back three feet through a plate glass window made out of sugar.

      • An advanced kinetic energy weapon would be better. Terrorists would just explode! Problably a little messy though! Officer/or CCW , would have to wear a rain coat like they were at a Gallagher event….

        • “An advanced kinetic energy weapon would be better. Terrorists would just explode! Problably a little messy though! Officer/or CCW , would have to wear a rain coat like they were at a Gallagher event….”””

          and there goes my tea all over the keyboard ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • Not true. The force of a bullet has nothing to do with caliber or shot placement or type of gun. It’s all about who is shooting the bad guy.

        When John Wayne shoots bad guys they mostly just fell off their horse DRT. Or otherwise crumbled down with minimal drama.

        When Clint Eastwood shoots the bad guy his arms fly outward and he’s launched off a pier and into a pond.

        When Arnold Schwarzenegger shoots the bad guy he’s lifted off his feet, flies thru a plate glass window, across a sidewalk, smashes into a car windshield.

        When Chuck Norris shoots the bad guy, well, this one isn’t the same thing as Chuck places the bullets into the bad guy by tossing several bullets up in the air and kicking each bullet into the bad guys with blinding speed and explosive Chuck Force. So can’t really compare.

        So, yeah, it’s all about who’s doing the shooting.

        • Indiana Jones would have fired once and the dude would have fallen backwards and been dead before he hit the ground.
          Just sayin’.

          Now Jihadi dude is probably mad that the evil infidels rendered medical aid and he is still here on earth, instead of enjoying 72 virgin goats in paradise.

      • In 34 years on the ambulance as a cardiac medic I’ve seen lot’s of people die from .22 rounds and .45 ACP, I don’t think I ever saw anyone die on scene or in the ambulance from one or two body shots from a 9mm. I carry either a 9 or a 45 and am a strong believer in the half a mag dump theory of self protection.

        • It’s been my experience in what little killing I’ve done, the 9mm Luger was a two shots or more. Where as the .45 ACP was a one and done. Usually

        • The current philosophy in defensive training is “target saturation”. Which basically means to forget about double or triple taps. Keep firing until the aggression stops.

          You see this often in police shootings. Its not uncommon for a cop to dump 7 or 8 rounds.

          In this case the cop connected with either 1 or 2 shots and the guy went down. So he stopped shooting.

    • There does appear to be some derpa-derpa going on, ya.

      Jihadis think that if they die fighting an enemy of the ummah, all is forgiven, they get into heaven regardless of what other sins they have committed. This is one of the reasons so many jihadis in western europe have criminal histories- they were radicalized in prison, and were seeking redemption.

      Pretty sure that once this guy’s history is known, there’s going to be some sketchy stuff there.

      • What I was going to say, attempted suicide by cop. The only twist is that he thought he’d get rewarded in the afterlife. If we was really serious about killing a cop, he wouldn’t announce it. And once he pulled the knife, he just waited to be shot in stead of attacking (until it become clear the cop wasn’t going to shoot unless he pressed). I thought the cop showed remarkable restraint. He would have been justified in shooting as soon as the blade came out (unless the perp was much further away than it appeared in the video).

  3. After suing the city for millions for abusing his rights, this hard working oppressed immigrant purveyor of the religion of pieces will find gainful employment as a Democratic Congressional Aide, or Democratic Presidential Nominee Advisor On Gun Violence.

  5. IS stands for I stupid.

    Excellent restraint by the cop, he was very professional and acted perfectly. Very disappointed the POS didn’t die from the wounds. Now taxpayers are going to pay for this maggot for decades.

  8. The most common thread I noticed on all the photos of these Muslim attacker’s is the men all have that awesome beard, & the women wear head gear…, but please don’t pro file ,,, that’s to easy.& GOD is GREAT…🙏🏻✝️

  9. Don’t want your suicide by cop to seem totally crazy? Sprinkle on a little “I totally belong to ISIS. I mean, like, for real real. I’m not just saying that. Really.” Now you get some recognition from them and you’re aren’t just a lonely wacko. You get to be a wacko with some backing!
    I’m sure if the KKK or similar organization still had any reputation Dylaan Roof would have pledged his loyalty to them too.

    • Dylan Roof is an example of the KKK’s desire of genetic purity. His parents have been brother and sister, or first cousins, for every generation since the Civil War. A true scion of the white race.

      • You must be confused with Democratic Party. They kill more minority baby’s than anyone. Genocide. Or black on black murder number cause of death by violence. Or should we look at overdose deaths by drugs. 60 to 70,000 all Races.

  10. “and told the operator he wanted to talk to a police officer so he could “deal with him.””

    Uh…huh. Why’d they send ONE officer, instead of a dozen guys with rifles and armor? It sounds like he spelled out his intention to ambush/attack responding officers. Send enough to curb stomp that asshole.

    • They probably thought the call was a hoax. Seriously, how many Jihadists are polite enough to call in like that?

    • This was what I was going to post. I don’t care if it’s a hoax or not, if you have someone calling with that sort of phrase, you’re crazy for not staging and responding in pairs. Not only is it crucial for officer safety (what if he’d gotten a gun?) but it also would have made it more likely to end the situation without deadly force; if you have more than one officer facing a suspect with a knife, one can attempt less-lethal measures like a taser while covered by other officers ready to fire.

      Someone dropped the ball here. The dispatcher who didn’t figure out to send more than one, the officer if he disregarded the warning and went alone, or the department for failure to train and adopt policies that prioritize officer safety… or if they don’t have enough officers to send two for a call like this. The result was fine but only because the guy apparently wanted to die.

  11. Is it the stupid looking beard that makes these guys so dumb? Attack a cop with a knife, take 2 for the God of your choice. Nothing to see here folks, move along.

  13. Ham Down! Repeat, we gotta Ham Down!

    Lol too bad he survived. I think self admitted isis members should not be given any medical aid at all. Let them be healed by “alluh”, not our western infidel medicine.

  14. who really gives a Sh*t about one hand or two hand hold as long as the bad guy is down, you also have to think defensive, where single had can mitigate a knife strike. These Hadji should never been allowed into this country in the first place,!

  16. I would like to thank the, Libertarians, Liberals, and the Left, for supporting open borders and bring into this country ever more dangerous bigots that we already have. Who are born and raised here.

    • The residents of Oklahoma City think you’re WAY off base and deluding yourself.
      What here says he is even foreign born??

      The FBI has listed more domestic terrorists than foreign born on the watch list for more 25+ years and I guarantee that will continue for many more to come.

      As the population grows, even if the % of wackos stays the same there are still more of them every day.

      • That’s because the FBI has been corrupted by leftists. So of course anyone right of Stalin automatically gets classified a domestic terrorist.

    • Easier to miss under pressure, especially with a handgun. Center mass is how police regularly train and worked fine. Not only is it good to act within your experience, but imagine having to explain during the civil suit why you shot someone in the head instead of going according to standard training.

  18. Looks like this Jihadi got cheated out of his virgins in the afterlife since he lived.

    Good shot placement by the officer.

    If Jihadi really wanted death by cop he should have tried t his in NYC.
    The man would be Swiss cheese.

    • NYC? The cops would have fired 133 rounds. They would have hit 7 bystanders, 2 pigeons and a cat. The jihadi would have had his thumb blown off.

  19. Not saying much for the intelligence of these jihadis. Failed suicide, maybe? Will that cost him a few dozen virgins down the road? Inquiring minds want to know.

  20. As the judge noted, the film showing exactly what happened is PUBLIC PROPERTY, not something belonging to the police dept. or other agency. For the benefit of those who might have forgotten, police agencies, aka Law Enforcement Agencies are created, funded and equipped at public expense, their purpose being, at the risk of sounding trite or old fashioned, to serve the public. Hiding or appearing to hide filmed record of who did and or said what to whom does not serve the public interest, rather it serves to raise question where there should not be any..

  24. It does look like a suicide attempt.

    Of course the officer had to shoot. What choice did he have? Even if he also had a Taser (unknown) when an attacker is advancing on you with a deadly weapon you shoot him, it’s not a matter of options.

  26. I can hear Hamed start his war stories in prison with “They call me Ismail”, and ends it with Moby’s Dick the great white wail….Thank-you, your whalecum

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