Lawrence man convicted of attempted murder, aggravated burglary in connection with police standoff

photo by: Sara Shepherd

Abdul Jalil K. Hussein appears in Douglas County District Court on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, following his preliminary hearing. He is pictured with attorney Hatem Chahine.

A Lawrence man who allegedly fired his gun at a police officer during a standoff pleaded no contest Wednesday and was convicted of attempted murder in the first degree and aggravated burglary.

Abdul Jalil K. Hussein, 36, was charged in connection with multiple incidents: allegedly firing a gun into the air outside his home, which led to an hourslong standoff with police in December 2017; allegedly kicking in and destroying the front door of his mother’s home on June 8, 2018; and reportedly returning to his mother’s home with an ax and a pistol, chopping a hole in the front door to get in and then driving back to his own home a few blocks away, where he allegedly exchanged gunfire with a Lawrence police officer, on June 29, 2018.

During a May 8 preliminary hearing in his case, the officer testified that Hussein “was hunting me, and he was going to kill me” that night at the home near Iowa Street and Interstate 70, the Journal-World reported. A neighbor recounted getting her children to belly crawl to a room where they hoped they’d be safe as gunshots rang out; police later reportedly found a bullet in her living room, and a bullet hole in the home’s roof.

photo by: Ashley Hocking

Lawrence police respond to an incident on North Stowe Court on Friday, June 29, 2018.

Hussein has spent a number of months undergoing mental health evaluation and treatment at Larned State Hospital since his arrest. He’d previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was involuntarily committed to Osawatomie State Hospital after the December 2017 standoff, the Journal-World reported.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutor Alice Walker said the state would dismiss seven additional charges in Hussein’s highest-severity case, which resulted from the June 29, 2018 incident.

The state will also dismiss the earlier two cases entirely. Some of the other charges he faced included criminal discharge of a firearm, interference with law enforcement, battery on a law enforcement officer and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

Hussein’s appointed defense attorney, Hatem Chahine, told the judge Wednesday that counsel had agreed to recommend that Hussein serve the sentences for the two convictions consecutively. They are also recommending the maximum sentences for both counts.

The attempted murder charge is a level-1 felony, the highest severity that follows standard state sentencing guidelines rather than presuming a life sentence; aggravated burglary is a level-4 felony.

The judge told Hussein that depending on his criminal history, he could face a maximum of 653 months in prison for the first count and 172 for the second — 825 months total, or more than 68 years.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Abdul Jalil K. Hussein

However, the judge said counsel had indicated Hussein’s criminal history was most likely in the state’s lowest category. If the court’s presentence investigation finds that to be accurate, Hussein would face a maximum of 165 months in prison for the first count and 43 for the second — 208 months total, or 17 years and four months.

Hussein will have to register as a violent offender for 15 years, and he will face 36 months of post-release supervision. Since the aggravated burglary charge involved a family member, the state has requested a designation of domestic violence, which means Hussein will be required to undergo an assessment and complete any required programming.

Hussein is set for sentencing Dec. 2. Chahine declined to comment for this article, as sentencing is pending.

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