Swordsman Who Attacked Officer Had Assaulted Police Before
According to police and court records, the 46-year-old man who's assault with a sword left a Kennewick police officer with 17 stitches in his head had a previous conviction for attacking an officer.
Hussein D. Hassan bit Officer James Canada during a police encounter in October of 2016. Police were called to Hassan's home in Kennewick in the 1700 block of West 6th. The officers had stopped by during an investigation they were doing into a car prowl. Hassan ended up being arrested for obstruction by the officers. But during the arrest, he resisted, and bit Officer Canada on the thumb, resulting in an injury.
There have also been questions raised about his mental competency. He was assigned a court-appointed attorney for the assault case, and was supposed to go to a mental health evaluation April 27th. of this year but he never showed up. Officials wanted to assess his ability to understand court proceedings, and potentially help him with his defense.
Then, last weekend citizens called police when they saw a man, Hassan, walking near 10th and Olympia, some say pacing back and forth, with the sword. When the two police units arrived the officers got out to talk to him. At that point Hassan charged Officer Jason Kiel, hitting him repeatedly with the sword. Kiel ended up getting 17 staple-stitches for his wounds. Kiel was able to break away from the initial assault, but as Kiel retreated, Officer Jason Kuhn arrived. They both shot Hassan, and he died at TRIOS Southridge ER, according to the Tri-City Herald.
According to social media information, one of Hassan's children reportedly posted on Facebook claiming if his father was white, he would not have been shot by police.