FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. — Documents released by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office compare an 18-year-old Fountain Hills terror suspect to the Pulse nightclub shooter, the San Bernardino shooters and “other terrorists” for swearing allegiance to the Islamic State “before carrying out an attack.”
On Jan. 7, Ismail Hamed called 911 twice, saying he wanted to meet face to face with a police officer. In one of the calls, he claims his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and says he wants “to do something in protest for the people suffering in Palestine and in the Middle East.”
Hamed threw rocks at the responding MCSO patrol sergeant, then pulled a knife and threatened him.
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The sergeant backed away from Hamed and warned him multiple times to drop the knife. The sergeant eventually fired twice when Hamed ignored those warnings.
The report said investigators reviewing the body camera footage heard Hamed repeatedly saying, “Shoot me,” as he followed the sergeant with the knife.
Hamed survived his injuries and was charged with terrorism. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.
The report says Hamed's actions followed the pattern seen in the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando and the San Bernardino shooting—noting that the man who killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando in 2016 had called a 911 dispatcher and declared his support for the Islamic State, and the shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino in 2015 swore their allegiance to the Islamic State in a Facebook post.
The 39-page report is mostly redacted. Much of the unredacted portion of the report focuses on Hamed’s claims of allegiance to the Islamic State in the 911 call.
The report says two cellphones and a SIM data card were taken from Hamed’s room, but the pages after that are blacked out. The information released does not show any connections between Hamed and the Islamic State.
The report mentions that Hamed’s parents were “beside themselves to hear their son was involved with the assault of a Deputy Sheriff.”
His parents told detectives their son was a good quiet kid and at one point was seeking to be a police officer.
Hamed’s father said Ismail had recently grown his beard out, but he said he believed the beard had to do with laziness or hygiene issues.
The report also says Hamed had walked into the Fountain Hills Town Hall before he made the 911 calls requesting to speak to a deputy. He called the non-emergency line one of the secretaries provided him with and called 911 when his call to the non-emergency line was not answered.
Sheriff Paul Penzone previously said he doesn't think there was an indication that Hamed planned to carry out other attacks. The sheriff said he didn't know whether Hamed had contacts with bona fide members of the Islamic state.
