Saginaw police tased 19-year-old before fatally shooting him, new report says
A 19-year-old man was shocked with a Taser repeatedly while resisting arrest before a Saginaw police officer fatally shot him earlier this month, according to a new report police submitted to the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
At the time of the shooting about 8 a.m. May 7 at a home in the 1300 block of North Creek Drive, Saginaw police officers were serving a warrant on a charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, police said.
Alexavier Nalani Nahoolewa, who was the suspect named in the warrant, resisted arrest and got into a fight with officers during which one officer fired a handgun and shot Nahoolewa, police have said.
Nahoolewa was initially “semi-compliant,” but once he was told he was under arrest, he became violent and resisted officers, Saginaw police wrote in the report submitted to the AG’s Office on May 13. Nahoolewa was holding an officer on the ground when the suspect was tased multiple times, but the Taser was not effective, the report states. The officer then fired his gun, shooting Nahoolewa twice, the report states.
The report stated that Nahoolewa tried to assault an officer with a “large board” that was a piece of a countertop and he resisted being handcuffed. According to the report, Nahoolewa was not restrained during the time leading up to the shooting.
The Saginaw Police Department has not released body-camera video from the shooting.
Officers provided first aid until medics arrived and Nahoolewa was taken to John Peter Smith hospital in Fort Worth, where he died, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
His death was ruled a homicide, according to the custodial death report from Attorney General’s Office.
According to court records, the warrant was issued after Nahoolewa failed to appear for a court hearing on May 4.
The Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting and will present their findings to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. Saginaw police are conducting a separate administrative investigation to determine whether department policy was followed.
Family mourns young man killed
“Alexavier was a caring, energetic, and loving young man who was truly beginning to come into his own in this world,” his family wrote in a GoFundMe post organized for funeral expenses.
“No matter what challenges he may have faced personally, he never allowed them to diminish the love and empathy he showed toward others. That was simply who he was — day in and day out,” the post read.
Nahoolewa shared a special bond with his little sister and their connection was “unbreakable,” the family wrote.
“The world did not simply lose a young man with his whole life ahead of him — it lost a genuinely kind soul whose presence reminded others that even during life’s darkest moments, light and goodness can still shine through,” the fundraiser post read. “He was a beloved son, grandson, brother, and friend whose memory will continue to live on through the lives he touched.”