Witness describes hearing laughter while Yosif Al-Hasnawi was dying from gunshot
Three witnesses - a firefighter, a bystander and a woman watching from the 14th-floor balcony of a nearby apartment - described in a Hamilton courtroom on Wednesday the events that unfolded after Yosif Al-Hasnawi was shot.
Grant McQueen is a Hamilton firefighter who was part of a crew called to the scene.
I believe he said, He's acting, he's pretending,'" McQueen testified about what he overheard said by paramedics. The patient said, Then why does it hurt so much?'"
Al-Hasnawi was shot on Dec. 2, 2017, near Main Street East and Sanford Avenue South. The 19-year-old later died of his injuries.
Former Hamilton paramedics Christopher Marchant and Steve Snively are charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life in the death of the gunshot victim.
McQueen said when his crew arrived on scene, Al-Hasnawi was lying on the ground between the legs of a police officer looking agitated ... anxious, in pain."
The police officer gave us what looked like a wave off - he held his hand up," he testified.
He said something to the effect of: It's just a BB gun, he's acting like it's worse,"' McQueen said, adding that the officer's tone was firm, terse."
Paramedics arrived, and released the fire crew from the scene.
As I'm picking up our bags, I see the older shorter, straw-coloured-hair paramedic picking up the patient, grabbing both of his wrists like this," McQueen said, using both his hands to gesture pulling. And he can't pick him up, he's not able to."
In cross-examination, the defence revealed inconsistencies with previous statements to police, where McQueen at one point said the paramedic said, I think he's acting," rather than, He's acting," as he testified on Wednesday.
On Dec. 2, 2017, Anthony DiCiccio put on his coat and shoes and exited his 65 Sanford Ave. S. apartment after his girlfriend alerted him to the commotion. He recalled seeing Al-Hasnawi lying on the ground not far from his building.
At the time he looked like he was in some great deal of pain," DiCiccio said. He wasn't moving a lot, to my knowledge, and he was just lying on the ground."
DiCiccio said he watched the scene play out from 10 or 20 feet away.
First, a police cruiser and an officer arrived on scene, followed by two paramedics - one taller, one shorter, he remembered.
They walked over and they were kind of like ... how do I say it ... They were not taking the matter or the situation serious in my opinion," DiCiccio said. One, they didn't have any equipment with them and, two, they were kind of (lackadaisical) about it."
He said one paramedic went to the victim to see what was going on ... and see how serious his injury was," but he didn't remember them touching or treating the victim.
Instead, he heard laughter.
I still, to this day, I remember one of them saying Don't worry, you're going to live, it's nothing serious, it's just a mosquito bite,'" he said. Hands down, that's what I remember. I'll never, ever forget that."
The witness described the paramedics moving Al-Hasnawi by hoisting him up with one on each side of the patient holding him under the arms when they moved him to the back of the ambulance.
They were still in that position, it's not like they carried him over. They kind of, like, dragged him ... they were trying to, like, drag him against the ground."
Janis Cort had a bird's-eye view of the moments after Al-Hasnawi shot.
It's very good," Cort said of the unobstructed view from her 14th-floor apartment at the corner of Aikman Avenue and Sanford Avenue South to the street below.
Cort described hearing someone in the crowd of what she estimated to be 30 to 40 people say: Help him."
There was nothing for a bit, and then I heard some laughter," she said.
Cort said she couldn't be sure of where the laughter was coming from.
When you heard the laughter, how did you feel?" Patterson asked.
I was disgusted," she said. I didn't think it was funny."
Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com