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(Omaha, NE) -- Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine has ruled that a sheriff's sergeant’s use of deadly force in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Janidi Ibrahim was justified.
“Because he wasn’t the initiator of the deadly force—the individual who had the gun pointed at him when he drove past—he got out to intervene, and the gun was pointed at him again. That’s the initiator of deadly force,” said Kleine during Thursday’s press conference.
On May 22, Ibrahim was shot by Douglas County Sheriff’s Sergeant Jesse Ronk during a weapons investigation near 48th and Pratt. Sergeant Ronk shot Ibrahim twice; he later died at the hospital.
“He was watching. The car started, then at some point during that period, [Ibrahim] made a movement, and that’s when [Ronk] fired because he thought [Ibrahim] was going to shoot,” Kleine added. “You know, if Mr. Ibrahim had just dropped the gun on the pavement outside of the car, then this wouldn’t have happened.”
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference Thursday afternoon and gave a detailed rundown of the events that led to Ibrahim’s death.
Sheriff Aaron Hanson said that based on the investigation, it appears Sgt. Jesse Ronk and the Special Operations Group were initially conducting a surveillance operation until the situation escalated quickly.
“On that second pass, when Sergeant Ronk articulated that he knew a weapon was not only pointed at him but in very close proximity as he drove by, he felt there was an imminent need to take action. If we have anybody randomly pointing a firearm at someone driving down the street—whether they think it’s a police officer or not—that is clearly a high-risk situation,” said Hanson.
Hanson also stated that the County Attorney’s Office is working with the legal counsel of Janidi Ibrahim’s family to arrange a viewing of the bodycam footage.
“I find that his actions were reasonable under the law, but that doesn’t take away from the tragedy that occurred here,” said Kleine.
The case will still go to a grand jury, as required by Nebraska state law.