Saturday, October 19, 2013
A police cruiser responding to a robbery report, lights flashing and
siren blaring, struck a car at an intersection just northwest of Ohio's
capital early Friday, killing six members of a family and injuring an
officer, officials said.
Police said dash-camera video from the cruiser shows the victims' Toyota
Corolla had a red light when it reached the intersection and came to a
complete stop just before the crash.
The officer from the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington was responding
to a reported armed robbery at a fast-food restaurant when the crash
occurred around 1:30 a.m. at a large intersection with traffic lights,
investigators said.
The cruiser was one of an unspecified number of police cars responding
to the robbery, all with their lights on and sirens activated, said
Upper Arlington police officer and spokeswoman Heather Galli.
A Columbus man was driving the other car, with his wife in the front
passenger seat and four daughters, including a toddler, in the back
seat, said Chief Robert Oppenheimer of Perry Township police. None was
wearing a seatbelt, and the youngest daughter was not in a child
restraint, he said.
"That car was just totaled, and they probably died instantly," Oppenheimer said.
Oppenheimer identified them as driver Eid Badi Shahad, 39; Entisar W.
Hameed, 31; Shuaa Badi, 16; Amna Badi, 14; Ekbal Badi, 12; and Lina
Badi, 2. Hamee and Shahad were married and the girls were their
daughters, Majeda Mohammad, a case worker for Community Refugee and
Immigration Services in Columbus, said Friday. The family were refugees
from Basra, Iraq, who came to the United States about three years ago,
Mohammad said.
Mohammad says the family had been out making visits as part of the
Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. She said Shahad's mother and his four
sons were home at the time of the accident.
The family lived in an apartment complex on the far west side of
Columbus where most of their neighbors are immigrants from Somalia. A
stream of visitors came by Friday to pay their respects. A service was
planned at central Ohio's largest mosque Saturday.
"It's very sad, because this man, and this family, is excellent,
excellent family," Mohammad said. She added: "He is a wonderful,
wonderful man and wonderful family."
Franklin County coroner Jan Gorniak said an autopsy could be performed
on Shahad as soon as Friday. She said autopsies won't be performed on
the passengers because of religious objections.
A small shopping center sits on one side of the intersection, with a
park and river on the other side. The intersection is frequently busy
during the day, with hundreds of cars passing through it.
The officer, who had been traveling alone, was being treated for a
serious head injury at a hospital but was in stable condition, said
Jason Pappas, head of the local police union.
Upper Arlington police identified the officer as Shawn Paynter, who
joined the department five years ago and had been on the overnight shift
about a year.
Oppenheimer said the officer was in shock after learning about the
deaths, and he had not been interviewed by investigators by midday
Friday. That was expected to happen later with his attorney present.
Oppenheimer said a Columbus police accident investigation team pulled
the dash-camera video from the cruiser. He said the footage shows the
cruiser entering the intersection just as the light was turning from
green to yellow.
The victims' car entered on a red light, Oppenheimer said, and then came
to a complete stop in the middle of the intersection before it was hit.
"One could speculate that he may have realized he ran the red light and
was going to back up," Oppenheimer said. "Or he saw the cruiser coming
... and he froze. We can only speculate, because we'll probably never
know."