Abu Dhabi: The family of an Emirati student who was shot dead by an Ohio police officer will receive condolences in their house in Al Shawamekh area, 45km from downtown Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Funeral prayers for Saif Nasser Mubarak Al Ameri, 26, who was killed by a gunshot to the head fired by a policeman from Hudson City Police, will be held in Rawashed Mosque in Bani Yas after the Friday prayers and the body will be buried in Bani Yas graveyard,
Al Ameri was a student at Case Western Reserve University, in the town of Hudson, which is some 50km away the city of Cleveland in the state of Ohio. Sunday’s shooting incident took place in Hudson.
Nasser Al Ameri, the father of the student, told Gulf News he and his family were shocked at the news of the shooting and killing of Saif, who was his eldest son, in such an “horrific and ambiguous way”.
“Everyone knows that my son was an example of decency, ethics and commitment, and never known for any bad driving as claimed by the Ohio Police report,” the father said.
Saif has a younger brother, Abdullah Al Ameri, and two sisters.
The father expressed gratitude to the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and officials of the UAE Embassy in Washington for support.
“Results of investigation into the incident are with the embassy and the Foreign Ministry, which closely follows the issue,” he father.
The grieving father said that his son had completed his bachelor degree in law from the UAE University and earned an Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) scholarship to study for Master’s at the Western Reserve Case University.
“My son was an example of distinction and had an excellent relationship with the faculty and with fellow students. He was planning to join the National Service next year after graduation,” he said.
Hours before the incident, he had spoken to his son, who told him that he would be sitting for an exam the next day.
“Only hours later, we were shocked by the horrible news that he was shot and killed in such an appalling way,” he said.
According to officials, witnesses said Al Ameri was speeding on the Ohio Turnpike just outside Hudson, a small city of 25,000 people when his car clipped another vehicle and overturned. Ohio State Patrol troopers responded to the accident because it occurred on a state road.
A report, issued by Hudson Police Department, claimed that Al Ameri fled the scene of the crash, but it didn’t mention why the policeman opened fire and shot him.
According to reports, the Hudson Police Department said, “The suspect’s car flipped over at about 2.45pm after it sideswiped a car on the Ohio Turnpike, 48km Eastern Cleveland city, near the exit for Interstate 480. The man climbed out of the car and ran from the area...”
“A Hudson officer searching for the suspect found him off an access road in a wooded area on the 3200 block of Hudson-Aurora Road at around 4pm,” said the police report.
“The officer and suspect were involved in a struggle, and the officer shot and killed the man,” according to the police report. “The suspect ended up at the bottom of a ravine.”
A spokesman for Summit County (in which Hudson falls) Coroner’s Office told Gulf News on Tuesday night that the fatal shooting occurred under a road bridge. There was an altercation and the officer shot Al Ameri in the head. The officer, who was briefly hospitalised and treated for minor injuries, has been placed under paid administrative leave following the incident and pending investigation.
He said the initial accident occurred about 2.45pm on Sunday, and the shooting occurred about 45 minutes later.
Abu Dhabi Police said that in coordination with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, they will send a CID team to take part in the investigations into the incident being conducted by US authorities.
On Tuesday, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said that the UAE Embassy in Washington is investigating the death of the student. “In light of this follow-up, and after details of the painful incident are clarified by the authorities, the ministry will issue a more comprehensive statement,” Undersecretary Mohammad Mer Al Raisi said in a statement.
Eve Mueller, deputy director of Communications for the office of Ohio’s Attorney-General, confirmed to Gulf News on Tuesday night that the state’s BCI was investigating the shooting incident, and that state officials had been in contact with the US Department of State in Washington and the UAE Embassy.
The body of Saif Al Ameri, the Emirati student who was shot and killed by an Ohio police officer, will be flown to Al Bateen airport at 8pm on Thursday.
The UAE Embassy in Washington told Gulf News that a legal team was studying the Ohio Police report on the incident.
