HENDERSON (KTNV) — City of Henderson officials have agreed to a settlement with the family of a 12-year-old boy that was killed during a 2020 police shootout.
According to documents filed by the city, they have agreed to pay $275,000 to settle a lawsuit that was filed Iehab Hawatmeh, who is the father of Joseph Hawatmeh.
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The lawsuit states that Iehab's wife and Joseph's mom, Dianne, had previously complained to management at The Douglas at Stonelake apartment complex, near the 215 and Stephanie Street, that their upstairs neighbor, later identified as Jason Bourne, was making a lot of noise.
That led up to the incident on Nov. 3, 2020. According to the lawsuit, Dianne was about to park when Bourne motioned for her to stop the vehicle. After a short conversation, Bourne walked away from the vehicle and out of sight.
As Dianne and her daughter, Yasmeen, went into their apartment, the lawsuit states Bourne burst in after them and opened fire. He shot and killed Dianne and her other daughter, Veronica, before shooting Yasmeen eight times. Yasmeen survived the attack but her injuries rendered her a paraplegic.
The lawsuit states Bourne then took Joseph to the parking lot as a hostage "to ensure his safety and escape" and the pair got into a vehicle.
By that time, several neighbors had called 911 as well as Bourne, who spoke with Henderson police dispatchers for approximately 25 minutes.
At the same time, Iehab and his other child received a community warning notification letting apartment residents know that "Incident underway, police are on site. We don't have any information, however for your safety we advise you stay indoors at this time." The two began calling their other family members and Bourne advised Joseph to answer their call.
The lawsuit claims "at least 16 police officers completely surrounded the Escalade" and there was no way for the vehicle to leave. About 17 minutes into Bourne's 911 call, "a single shot sounded and Joseph was thereafter heard screaming". That's when attorneys state a volley of consecutive gunshots went off, Joseph was shot three times, and his father heard this happen because they were still on the phone together.
The Hawatmeh family alleges "If the Police Defendants had assessed the situation as a hostage situation and acted consistent with reasonable police policy and procedure, the forced acceleration resulting in Joseph's death reasonably could have and would have been averted."
However, Henderson police don't agree.
In a video the department released a month after the incident, Henderson police stated Bourne refused to comply with any of the requests from officers on scene or dispatchers.
"Officers continued to engage Bourne in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, at which point shots were fired, resulting in an officer-involved shooting," Lt. John Plunkett said at the time. "Once the threat was neutralized, officers removed both males from the vehicle and immediately began life-saving measures. Bourne was determined to be deceased at the scene. Officers were unable to rescue the juvenile before he succumbed to the injuries inflicted by Bourne."
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The Clark County District Attorney's Office did not bring any charges against the officers involved.
The settlement documents also state "the settlement is not an admission of misconduct on behalf of any officer but is made to avoid the costs of extensive litigation, trial, and attorney fees."