AG: Investigation into 2023 shooting by police officer of teen with BB gun was ‘justified’

MANCHESTER, NH – Manchester police Sgt. Derek Feather was legally justified in shooting Waleed Al Tuwayni, then 19, who pointed a pellet gun resembling a Sig Sauer pistol at him in March of 2023, according to an investigative report released Thursday by New Hampshire Attorney John General Formella.

“Based on all the facts and circumstances of this case, the Attorney General has concluded that Manchester Police Sgt. Derek Feather was legally justified when he used deadly force against Mr. Al Thuwayni. At the time that he was shot, Mr. Al Thuwayni had recently led police officers on two dangerous high-speed chases, had refused Sgt. Feather’s directives to get out of his car, refused to keep his hands raised, and instead, retrieved and then pointed what reasonably appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol at Sgt. Feather,” according to the attorney general.

“Sgt. Feather reasonably concluded that Mr. Al Thuwayni constituted an imminent, deadly threat to him, the police officers currently in close proximity to his car, and all additional police officers who were actively approaching the scene. Here, Sgt. Feather’s account is independently corroborated by the accounts of Officer (Erica) Cheries, Officer (Brett) Morin, Officer (William) Collins, Sgt. (Kenneth) Brunini, the video evidence, the physical evidence, and the ShotSpotter report,” according to the report.

Al Tuwayni was shot at 11:56 p.m. on March 26, 2023 by Feather after the teen pointed a pellet gun, closely  resembling a Sig Sauer P226, semi-automatic pistol, at the officer. When Feather saw the gun “he used deadly force against Mr. Al Thuwayni by shooting him with his duty pistol. As a result of this use of force, Mr. Al Thuwayni was wounded by Sgt. Feather’s gunshots, was provided immediate emergency medical assistance, and was transported to a hospital where he was treated for gunshot wounds to his left arm and abdomen,” according to the report.

Police were searching for Al Thuwayni, after he fled after being stopped by an officer and became involved in a high-speed pursuit throughout the city during which he ran red lights.  Police called off the pursuit because of the danger to the public.  Later, however, Al Thuwayni was involved in a second police pursuit during which he drove at 70 to 80 mph throughout the city.

Feather located Al Thuwayni at 11:55 p.m., sitting in his black Nissan 350z convertible in the middle of the empty parking lot at the Iglesia La Esperanza Church, 265 Maple St., about a block north of the police station.

Feather told investigators Al Thuwayni lowered his arms inside the vehicle but he had a “determined look” on his face.   Feather told him to “keep your hands up” several times before he unholstered his duty pistol.

Al Thuwayni ignored Feather’s orders and Feather said he saw him turn his body away from him and toward the center console “disappearing inside the car.”

Feather said when Al Thuwayni turned back toward him, “he had a pistol in his right hand with the barrel pointed at him, and, [w]hen he pops up, it was not slow, it was determined. He came up fast and pointed a gun sideways at my direction,” according to the report.

Believing he was in danger, Feather fired his gun six times, hitting Al Thuwayni in the arm and stomach.

It was the third time that night that police had interacted with Al Thuwayni.  At 9:07 p.m., at 285 Central St., Al Thuwayni was issued a traffic ticket by Officer Dominic Sardo, for reckless operation and speeding in his black Nissan 350z convertible.  The car’s license plate was LAMAFIA.

Al Thuwayni, who had several pending traffic citations and held a youth operator’s license, told the officer he was concerned he would lose his driving privileges as a result of being cited again.

Thirty minutes later, Al Thuwayni arrived at the Manchester Police Department on Valley Street and complained about the ticket, saying he was being targeted by the police and that the ticket would cause him to lose his license.

Sgt. Harrington activated his body worn camera and spoke with Mr. Al Thuwayni for about 20 minutes, until   Al Thuwayni ended the conversation and drove away. According to the attorney general, throughout the interaction Al Thuwayni was animated and aggressive, complaining that he felt he was being harassed and targeted by the Manchester Police because he was a “kid with a convertible.” Despite Harrington’s best efforts to deescalate the situation,  Al Thuwayni remained angry and repeatedly made statements which, “in retrospect, forecasted his next interaction with the police.”

Among his comments were:

“My life is on the line [every time I get stopped in my car by the police], you can pull your gun, you can shoot me, honestly pull the trigger, I’m tired of it,”

“I don’t know if next time I get pulled over I’m gonna get shot, just do it,”

“I know what’s gonna happen, you’re gonna make a big scene so you can shoot me,”

“I need this done, either shoot me, kill me, what are you waiting for.”

“They have been targeting me, I’d rather just get shot and die than go through that again, do you understand?”

“I’d rather die, I’d rather die right now,”

“As a 19-year-old I’d rather just die, I told you, I’d rather just have you guys shoot me and kill me, so I never have to go through it again.”

“Tell your officers next time they pull me over make sure they pull the trigger, tell your whole department that, next time they pull me over they pull that trigger, I’d rather have them kill me.”

“All I’m saying is next time you guys pull me over, shoot me.”

Al Thuwayni left the police station at  10:05 p.m.   At 10:53 p.m., the police began receiving complaints about a black convertible sports car doing “burn-outs” and operating recklessly through the city. (In a footnote, investigators said a concerned citizen provided investigators with a copy of a social media post by a “Skylar Lee”. The post contained a cell phone video recorded by a pedestrian who witnessed Mr. Al Thuwayni doing “burn-outs” and “donuts” in the middle of a traffic intersection on Elm Street in Manchester. It was clear from the video that the pedestrian didn’t know Mr. Al Thuwayni, but after observing his behavior stated on the recording his belief that Mr. Al Thuwayni was seeking a confrontation: “Yo, there’s a dude on Elm Street right now whipping donuts and asking someone to call the cops on him. He’s been out here a few minutes and this kid is looking for trouble. So, I’m telling you right now, he’s in an older 350z, this cat is looking for trouble, he’s probably either gonna try to shoot it out with them or…I don’t know what he is doing, but…welcome to Manchester baby”. )

After multiple people called 911 with complaints about his driving, police located the car, speeding through the city, and tried to stop it. Al Thuwayni fled and led the police on a high-speed pursuit, according to the attorney general. The pursuit was called off because of the danger Al Thuwayni’s driving posed to himself, the pursuing officers, and the general public.

Shortly after, Al Thuwayni led police on a second chase, which was also terminated for public safety, before he was found sitting in his car in the parking lot near the police station.

At 11:55 p.m., 20 minutes after the second pursuit was shut down, Feather located Al Thuwayni’s car.     Feather radioed for back up officers to block the car from behind, and positioned his cruiser nose to nose with Al Thuwayni’s car to prevent him from fleeing.

At  11:56 P.M. Feather approached Mr. Al Thuwayni’s car from the driver’s side as Officer’s Cheries, Morin, and Collins approached from the rear of the car.   Feather told Al Thuwayni three times to get out of the car   but Al Thuwayni did not comply.

Feather approached Al Thuwayni, shining his flashlight into the vehicle compartment, and Al Thuwayni threw the keys onto the ground and raised his arms high above his head. As Feather walked closer to Al Thuwayni, the officer described  Al Thuwayni as having a “determined look on his face” and immediately became concerned for his safety when Mr. Al Thuwayni lowered his arms back into the vehicle compartment.   Feather immediately instructed  Al Thuwayni to “keep your hands up”, but Al Thuwayni did not comply.   Feather again told him  to “keep your hands up” as he unholstered his duty pistol.

After unholstering his weapon, Feather saw Al Thuwayni look to his right and then duck down lower into the car, turning away from him and toward the center console.   Al Thuwayni quickly turned back in Feather’s direction pointing a pistol at him with his right hand.  Feather fired his service pistol six times at Al Thuwayni stopping when he could no longer see Al Thuwayni’s pistol. No other officers fired their weapons.

After Al Thuwayni was shot, he got out of the driver’s side door of his car and laid down on the ground, where he was handcuffed, searched, and began receiving immediate emergency medical attention. As he was being handcuffed, he stated “thank you for arresting me officer, I am tired, I can finally rest, I can finally rest”. When he realized that he was being medically treated he stated “no, don’t save me, you guys wanted to kill me earlier.”

Al Thuwayni continued talking while being treated at the scene:

“That BB gun, it was a BB gun, I knew you guys were going to shoot me, I knew the second I raised my BB gun you guys would shoot me, that’s why I did this, that’s why I let you guys catch me,”

“You think I’m stupid, I let you catch me, I just wanted done harassing me, you guys keep harassing me,”

“I also got shot in the arm, I’ll die, I’m gonna die, it doesn’t matter,” “Thank you, whoever shot me,”

“Just tell my parents I love them and I’m sorry I became a failure, I picked up the BB gun because I knew you guys were gonna shoot me,”

“I picked up the BB gun because your protocol is to shoot.”

Al Thuwayni was taken to Elliot Hospital where he was treated for a gunshot wound to left arm and abdomen. He was later arrested on charges of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, criminal threatening with a deadly weapon, and disobeying a police officer.

On Nov. 9, 2023, Al Thuwayni pled guilty to reckless conduct and criminal threatening and was sentenced to suspended periods of incarceration of 2-to-4 years and 12-months respectively. His license was revoked for 120 days.

He also was given pre-trial confinement credit of 228 days. Forty-two of those days were home confinement.

The pellet pistol that Al Thuwayni pointed at  Feather is a replica training pistol manufactured by the Sig Sauer firearms manufacturing company and was designed to look and function as closely as possible to its 9mm caliber firearm analogue, according to the attorney general.