The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Abdinjib A. Ibraham, 35, with Felony Harassment for threatening to cause bodily injury to a King County Sheriff’s Office Deputy in Burien on Feb. 14, 2023.
As we previously reported, Ibraham was shot and injured by a Burien Police / King County Sheriff’s Office Deputy on 1st Ave South near S. 153rd Street that morning after threatening to shoot an officer, resulting in the closure of roads in the area for an investigation that lasted several hours.
The suspect is a violent repeat offender who prosecutors say never should have been released.
“If he was sentenced to 10 years, 9 months in summer 2014, how is he out of prison already?” said Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “That’s a question for the Department of Corrections because they handle sentences after prosecutors get convictions. My hunch is likely the DOC’s earned release time.”
Earned Release Time (ERT) is the time that an imprisoned individual can earn, based on good behavior and programming. The credit is applied to the term of confinement as ordered by the court.
Prosecutors requested the court set bail in the amount of $150,000 “because the defendant will fail to appear and will commit a violent offense.”
Charging docs detail minute-by-minute account
Here are details from charging documents on this officer-involved shooting incident:
- On Feb. 14, 2023 at 10:22 a.m., King County Sheriff’s Office 911 call center received reports of a suspicious male walking into the roadway of SW 160th Street and 1st Ave South in Burien. The initial 911 caller reported the male was wandering into traffic and his pants kept falling down. The male was described as a tall East Indian male wearing an olive-green jacket and maroon pants.
- A King County Sheriff Office (KCSO) Deputy responded to the 911 call, arriving at 10:32 a.m. The officer advised over the radio he had located the subject. He also advised that the subject stated he had a gun and made threats to shoot the Deputy.
- Several other KCSO Deputies responded to the scene. The first Deputy aired over the radio the subject had his hands in his jacket and was continuing to walk northbound on 1st Ave South.
- At 10:33 a.m., the Deputy deployed his Taser on Ibraham, but he was still walking northbound. That Deputy said that the suspect “…reached into his jacket and said he was going to shoot me.”
- At 10:35 a.m., several more Deputies arrived and noted their location as 15324 1st Ave South.
- Another Deputy advised over the radio, “He has his hand in his pants but can’t tell if he’s holding something.”
- At 10:36 a.m., another Deputy, who was on a Field Training Officer Program (FTO) at the time, advised over the radio the subject was running at them.
- At 10:37 a.m., a Deputy advised over the radio, “Shots Fired.”
- At 10:39 a.m., Deputies advised the subject was in-custody and requested medical aid. Deputies also advised they had applied a tourniquet to him.
- King County Medics arrived and transported the then-unknown subject to Harborview Medical Center to have his gunshot wounds examined.
- It was requested that detectives assigned to the Valley Independent Investigative Team (VIIT) respond to conduct the investigation.
- At 2:34 p.m., a VIIT Detective was informed that that another witness had called 911 to report her interaction with a subject in the 15600 block of 1st Ave South.
- That caller told police that she was northbound on 1st Ave South just north of 156th Street and was traveling slow due to construction and a lane closure. As she was driving her attention was drawn to a man walking in the middle of the roadway and approaching passing vehicles.
- She said the male was holding a yellow/green envelope in one hand and a smaller dark object she believed to be a gun in the other. A Deputy said that as the witness drove past the male, he got within 4-inches of her driver’s door window and was waving what she thought was a gun in his hand.
- A Deputy said that the 911 caller had prior military experience and was familiar with firearms. Although she could not say with certainty that the male was holding a firearm, she believed it was and was concerned for her safety. The Deputy added that the witness had also worked in hospitals for several years and interacted with numerous mentally ill subjects and active narcotic users. She believed this individual was either on drugs or mentally ill, and possibly both. The Deputy said she avoided eye contact and as soon as traffic in front of her began to move she accelerated out of the area. She called 911 to report what she had seen after seeing reports on the news.
- A Detective also spoke with another 911 caller who called at approximately 10:22 a.m. after seeing a subject walking in the middle of S. 160th Street just east of Sylvester Road SW. The Detective said the male suspect was walking casually in the middle of the road and it appeared odd enough for her to call 911. The caller did not see anything in the subject’s hands but had to swerve around him to avoid hitting him. She didn’t think the subject was necessarily suspicious but called 911 because it was odd behavior. After passing the subject she continued on to her destination.
- A VIIT Detective interviewed a witness from Burien Honda, who saw the subject walking away from Deputies as they followed from a distance. That witness said the subject had stopped at one point, with his hands near his waistline and made an aggressive quick motion towards the Deputies.
- The Detective also interviewed another witness, who reported seeing Deputies trying to contact the subject. The witness reported the subject was walking along 1st Ave South holding the left side of his unzipped jacket, while concealing his right hand under the jacket near his abdomen. The caller also witnessed the subject “lunge” towards the Deputies.
- A Deputy provided a written statement which stated the following:
“Upon arrival he observed a male in civilian clothing walking away from a Deputy with his hands tucked in his jacket. That Deputy was following the subject in a fully marked KCSO patrol vehicle with his emergency lights activated. “
- Another Deputy exited his patrol vehicle and gave the subject several commands to stop and take his hands out of his jacket. The subject refused to follow the commands and began to walk in their direction. As the subject got closer, the deputies moved behind a patrol vehicle for cover thus creating distance.
- The subject refused to follow the Deputy’s commands and began walking northbound. The Deputy got back into the patrol vehicle with other deputies using the vehicle for cover and slowly followed the subject. The subject was on the sidewalk approximately 25 feet in front of the deputies, when he suddenly turned, entered the roadway and began to run in the direction of the deputies. A Deputy reported seeing the subject’s face which had a look of anger, but he was unable to see his hands as they were still concealed in his jacket as he ran in their direction. The actions of the subject caused extreme fear for that Deputy as he feared for his life as well as the other deputies.
- Another Deputy reported as the subject got within 10 to 15 feet from him, he heard gunshots but did not know who had fired them. He then noticed the subject had fallen to the ground. The Deputies checked themselves for injuries and finding none, they then proceeded to take the subject into custody and render medical aid.
- A Deputy grabbed the subject’s clothing looking for a weapon but didn’t find one.
- A Detective spoke with a KCSO Metro Deputy who responded to Harborview Medical Center to identify the involved subject. The Deputy informed the Detective he had used his Mobile AFIS scanner to identify the subject as Abdinjib A lbraham, 35.
- Ibraham was placed into recovery after surgery and was intubated and unable to speak.
- Another Detective assisted by collecting surveillance video footage of this incident. One camera of value was at the Burien Honda dealership, located at 15026 1st Ave South. The dealership video depicted a male, later identified as Ibraham, walking north in the outside lane of 1st Ave South. Ibraham was walking at a normal pace towards a fully marked black and white King County Sheriff Deputy’s patrol car. This Sheriff’s vehicle was approximately over 50 yards away, reversing in the northbound lanes to create distance from Ibraham.
- Another fully marked patrol vehicle and an unmarked detective’s vehicle were following Ibraham in the same northbound lanes. The two Sheriff’s vehicles were following approximately 50 feet behind Ibraham, traveling at a walking pace, with their emergency lights activated. Several King County Sheriff Deputies walked behind the fully-marked northbound Sheriff’s vehicle, using it as protection.At one point, Ibraham stopped and turned, looking back at the Deputies following him. Just as the Deputies stopped to maintain their distance, Ibraham sprinted approximately 30 plus feet towards them. One of the Deputies behind the patrol car began to back up as the other used the patrol car as a barrier to protect themselves from Ibraham. The video depicts the unmarked detective’s vehicle advancing parallel to the marked deputies vehicle. When Ibraham gets to the rear quarter panel of the patrol, he falls to the pavement, only a couple feet away from one Deputy.
- VIIT Detectives from Tukwila PD documented the crime scene and collected items of evidentiary value including clothing, Ibraham’s personal effects as well as evidence indicating the deputies used “deadly force,” although Ibraham was not killed.
- A search of the scene where Ibraham was treated by first responders revealed no evidence of a weapon or firearm.
- The officer who fired the shots was not identified in the charging documents.
Prosecutors concerned
Prosecutors said that the defendant’s criminal history “is extensive and concerning.”
In the defendant’s most recent case, he was sentenced to 129 months on June 24, 2014. According to the Department of Corrections Offender Movement History, the defendant has been continuously in custody since July 15, 2014, through Jan. 20, 2023.
“In other words, the defendant was out of custody less than one month before this incident,” Prosecutors said. “Additionally, the defendant has an outstanding warrant from the Department of Corrections and is on escape status.”
The defendant’s criminal history includes the following felony convictions:
- King County – Robbery in the First Degree
- King County – Taking a Motor Vehicle in the Second Degree; Attempting to Elude; Vehicular Assault (4 counts)
- Ohio – Robbery
- King County – Possession of Stolen Vehicle.
“Additionally, it appears that the defendant also has ties to Ohio,” prosecutors said. “Given his connection to another State and that the defendant was on Department of Corrections escape status, bail is the only effective means to ensure the defendant does not fail to appear.”
