The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office released additional information last week related to its investigation stemming from a deputy involved shooting in Fountain Hills in January. The incident resulted in the arrest of Ismail Hamed, an 18-year-old Fountain Hills man for alleged aggravated assault on a deputy and eventually two counts of alleged terrorism.

Detectives have requested numerous search warrants during the course of this investigation and for each request they prepare an affidavit stating the purpose of the search and a probable cause for the charges. That statement provides some insight into the basis for the terrorism charges.

That statement reads, “(Hamed) called a 911 dispatcher and swore his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. This was followed shortly by an alleged aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. Thus your affiant believes that Ismail, like…other terrorists, did an obligatory swearing of allegiance to the Islamic state before carrying out an attack.

“The investigation of Ismail to date has also uncovered his use of electronic communication to [according to investigators] spread Islamic state propaganda to friends on at least two occasions. Ismail transmitted to a known person expressions of admiration for Omar Mateen [the alleged Orlando nightclub shooter] and forwarded a video from Anwar al-Awlaki, an English speaking cleric (deceased) who is widely accepted by followers of the Islamic state as an authority to justify the use of violence against non-believers.”

It should be noted that detectives were denied warrants to obtain material related to medical records and school records.

Work history

The report also indicates that detectives have made numerous contacts with people Hamed had worked with and there is a consistent point of view that he is socially awkward, with acquaintances using the words “off” and “weird vibe” to describe interaction with him.

It is reported that he made one employee where he went to high school so uncomfortable that she reported an incident to school officials.

At various places where Hamed was employed he was described as a poor employee.

Investigators talked with several people at the Target store in Fountain Hills where Hamed had worked for a time. They stated he had used a store-issued radio to relay what were described as “inappropriate” messages. Those allegedly included such things as “attention, we are under attack” and “we are under fire.” The store could not provide detectives with verification of those transmissions, as they are not saved.

Another Target employee described how Hamed was manning a cash register when he allegedly stood on the “grocery belt” and yelled out “bomb” at a time the store was open for business. There appears there was no independent report of this incident at the time.

Hamed’s parents, on the other hand, described him to deputies as a quiet, humble, good person who was conscientious about work and school.

His mother recounted to detectives how the evening of the shooting he had left the house to go for a walk, and she expected him back within a very short time. When he did not return she became so concerned she reported him missing.

His father expressed disbelief that he would have walked the approximately two and one half miles from their home to the MCSO substation.

On the night of Jan. 7, 2019 Hamed allegedly called MCSO dispatchers wanting to talk with a deputy in protest to the situation in the Middle East. When a deputy sergeant made contact with Hamed in the parking lot of the Fountain Hills substation, he allegedly threw rocks at the deputy and brandished a knife, resulting in the deputy shooting him twice. He survived the shooting and is awaiting trial on terrorism charges