21-Year-Old Accused Of Firing At a Police Officer Cleared After DA Says There Is No Evidence He Had A Gun

On August 7th, 21-year-old Raheem Howard was stopped on North 16th Street in Baton Rouge over a traffic violation by officer Yuseff Hamadeh. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In the initial report, which led to charges of attempted murder of a police officer and illegal use of a weapon, Hamadeh said Howard fled, he gave chase and fired his weapon, in response to Howard first firing at him. 

However, according to Howard, he never even had a gun to fire at the officers, and on top of that, witnesses in the area said they only heard one shot at the time of the incident. Problem is, the officer’s body camera, as well as the patrol car’s dash came were turned off at the time of the incident. 

After further investigation, officials determined there was not enough evidence to proceed with the charges, especially since there were no shell casings – besides the officer’s – no bullet holes or gun on the scene. 

“Based on the review of that, I didn’t have sufficient evidence to continue on those charges at this time,” East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III said Tuesday, as he revealed the charges had been dropped. However, he did say the investigation remains ongoing.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In the meantime, Howard remains behind bars over outstanding bench warrants, but it remains unclear how long he will be detained. As for Hamadeh, according to The Advocate, he has a history of sketchy behavior, as he is the same officer who fatally shot another man after a traffic stop in June of last year. 

In that incident, officials said Jordan Fraizer turned to fire at the officers, which prompted Hamadeh to fire back. However, that incident was not captured on video either.