PHOENIX — It's been nearly a week since Ali Osman was killed in a shooting involving Phoenix police.
It was Saturday evening when Phoenix police say Osman was throwing rocks at a police cruiser near 19th Avenue and Tuckey Lane. They reportedly asked the 34-year-old to stop, but when he didn't, both officers fired their weapons, hitting him. He was taken to the hospital but did not survive his injuries.
Every day since then, those closest to him have been searching for answers. “I just hope he gets justice," says Loay Alyousfi, Osman's best friend.
He said he doesn't know why his friend was in this situation and said it was not like him. Regardless, he doesn't believe the police's response that night was justifiable.
Alyousfi said, "What kind of message are we going to send to everybody if it's okay to shoot somebody over throwing rocks at them? Police are trained to do better to know better, and I think that wasn't done here."
On Thursday, the family's attorney revealed new details during a press briefing about their own investigation into this case. He included results from a private autopsy that was conducted that morning.
"I want to caution everyone... these results are very preliminary," attorney Quacy Smith says. "They are not the final assessment from the private autopsy," Smith said it showed Osman was shot at least three times. "There's a question about whether there was a fourth strike or not," he adds.
Smith also discussed the rocks Osman reportedly used. He showed 12News two bags he said were taken from the scene.
“These are actually the rocks that have Mr. Osman’s blood on them," Smith said about one of the bags. He believes the rocks were too small to cause any significant injury to the responding officers and should not have ended with shots fired.
“We don't want police officers having rocks thrown at them, I think the family agrees with that as well," Smith said. "But larger than that, we don't want people being killed for doing so.”
The attorney also announced shortly after Osman is laid to rest, they will file an excessive force and wrongful death lawsuit against the police department.
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A Phoenix police spokesperson said this remains an active criminal and internal investigation. Investigators have not said how large the rocks allegedly thrown by Osman were.
That information will be released in just over a week as per the Phoenix Police Department's transparency policy, including the release of body camera footage worn that day.
A public memorial will be held for Osman Friday at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe at 11:00 a.m.
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