Security video captures a Dearborn police officer shooting Ali Naji from a window in the bullet-resistant acrylic partition in the lobby of the Dearborn police station.
DEARBORN – A federal court dismissed a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn and a Dearborn police officer in the shooting death of a man who entered the police station lobby Dec. 18, 2022, and attempted to shoot a police officer.
U.S. District Judge F. Kay Behm noted in her decision that the police officer witnessed a clear threat to himself and others when Ali Naji, 33, of Dearborn entered the Police Department lobby and pointed a gun at the officer, pulled the trigger, and then attempted to correct his malfunctioning gun.
The judge determined that the officer’s use of deadly force against the individual “was not excessive,” and that had he not engaged the man, he “would have left an armed man who appeared willing to use his firearm alone in the police station lobby where members of the public, other officers, and staff could enter at any moment.”
The court underscored the importance of the officer’s actions “to protect the public, given that a member of the public could have entered the police station lobby at any time on a busy Sunday during a Christmas toy drive while (the man) was armed and actively trying to discharge his weapon.”
The suit was filed in the Eastern District of Michigan.
“We are grateful for the court’s thorough review of the facts in this tragic case by Judge Behm,” Police Chief Issa Shahin said. “This decision reaffirms the fact that the officer put his life at great risk to stop an immediate threat to himself, his fellow officers, and the general public during a busy afternoon in our lobby.
“While we welcome the court’s decision, our thoughts remain with the family of the deceased, and the officers that were present that day.”