Timberline High could have been any American school on the afternoon of October 18 last year, minutes after the final bell rang.
Teens in hoodies, jeans, and backpacks crowd along the road at the bus stop at 2.13pm, waiting to finally go home for the weekend.
Suddenly, just as the bus arrives, three figures burst into view of the bus security cameras, grabbing, wrestling and throwing punches at each other.
But this isn’t some schoolyard brawl between boisterous teenagers – one of them is a grown man whom prosecutors allege is trying to murder his daughter.
Terrifying footage obtained by the Daily Mail from the bus cameras shows the dramatic alleged crime, and the heroic response of the girl’s classmates, for the first time.
Ihsan Ali, 44, was allegedly attempting to carry out an ‘honor killing’ on the girl, aged 17, ‘for refusing an arranged marriage with an older man in another county’.
His wife, Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, allegedly tried to finish the job after the girl’s 16-year-old boyfriend, other teens, and bystanders fought him off.
The couple are behind bars after pleading not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and attempted kidnapping, and their trial starts tomorrow.
Ihsan Ali, 44, allegedly tried to strangle his daughter in an ‘honor killing’ outside her school and was charged with attempted murder
Ihsan punched his daughter’s boyfriend square in the face at the start of the attack, sending him staggering back out of the frame and falling down hard on nearby concrete
The girl, who can’t be named, ran away from home in Lacey, Washington, after her parents tried to put her on a plane to Iraq, and allegedly threatened her with an honor killing days earlier.
School officials arranged for her to stay at a women’s shelter, but didn’t provide her with transport so she and her boyfriend went outside to catch the bus.
That’s when Ihsan spotted them and demanded she come home, telling her ‘Heron’ in Arabic, which meant, ‘It’s not right, you’re not supposed to be doing this’.
He flew into a rage and attacked the couple, the melee spilling through the crowd and into view of the bus as the girl was slung to the ground.
Ihsan then punched the boyfriend square in the face, sending him staggering back out of the frame and falling down hard on nearby concrete.
With the teen boy out of the way, he went after his daughter, grabbing her by the throat as she tried to flee.
The girl’s boyfriend jumped to his feet and along with two others boys charged at Ihsan and tried to pull him away, knocking both to the ground.
The boys began punching, kicking, and stomping Ihsan as he put his daughter in a chokehold and refused to let go despite the flurry of blows.
The boys began punching, kicking, and stomping Ihsan as he put his daughter in a chokehold and refused to let go despite the flurry of blows
The camera also caught Josh Wagner stop his black Dodge Ram in the middle of the road, get out, and hustle over to the brawl
Eventually, Ihsan went limp, knocked out cold from repeated blows to the head, and the teens were able to help the girl to her feet.
The camera also caught Josh Wagner stop his black Dodge Ram in the middle of the road, get out, and hustle over to the brawl.
Wagner held Ihsan on the ground after he regained consciousness until police arrived and hauled the violent father away in handcuffs.
By now, a crowd had formed around the unconscious Ihsan and the girl, making it harder to see what was going on.
The girl’s eldest sister Haneen Ali 21, could be seen confronting the boyfriend and sticking a phone in his face before they scuffled and he was dragged away by a classmate.
Seconds later it appeared Zahraa had started her attack as the girl seemed to be back on the ground where witnesses alleged she also tried to kill her.
‘Once [the girl] and her mom were on the ground, her mom put her arm around her neck and started choking her,’ police wrote in their report.
They were eventually separated and the girl was able to get to her feet.
The footage showed the girl and her boyfriend run behind a tree pursued by Haneen and her mother where there was another altercation.
The couple then fled inside the school, pursued by Zahraa, and were able to hide inside until police arrived.
The girl’s eldest sister Haneen Ali 21, could be seen confronting the boyfriend and sticking a phone in his face before they scuffled
Seconds later it appeared Zahraa had started her attack as the girl seemed to be back on the ground where witnesses alleged she also tried to kill her
The footage showed the girl and her boyfriend run behind a tree pursued by Haneen and her mother where there was another altercation
The brave boyfriend suffered a ‘boxer’s fracture’ to his finger as he tried to get Ishan off his girlfriend, and bruises and scratches on his head and face.
He wasn’t diagnosed with a concussion but had symptoms such as sensitivity to light and headaches when he tried to watch TV or play video games.
His mother told police it ‘took him several days to talk about the incident without crying’.
The girl earlier told police in a three-hour interview on October 24 that she ran away because she was terrified of being taken to Iraq where she would be married off, abused, and forced to have children – never to return home.
She explained that after her boyfriend was knocked to the floor with his eyes closed, Ihsan grabbed her in a viscous attack.
‘[The girl] said her dad yanked her down and put her in a headlock. She said he was “choking” her “really hard” and she remembered grabbing his arm but then passed out,’ police wrote.
From there, her memory of Ihsan’s attack ended, and she only knew what happened by watching the video of her boyfriend and classmates heroically saving her life.
Victor Barnes (pictured), the boyfriend’s father
By the time police arrived, the girl’s brave 16-year-old boyfriend and his classmates had fought off Ihsan, saving her life, and adult passerby Josh Wagner restrained him on the ground
Ihsan in police bodycam footage sitting a patrol car. His jacket was torn in the struggle and dirt pressed into one side of his face during the attack
The girl also detailed her father’s alleged threats to kill her for dating an American boy, and refusing an arranged marriage.
‘If I could kill you, I would kill you, but I can’t do that. I can’t do that because there’s cops and CPS people involved right now because of you,’ she claimed he said.
‘And I can’t touch you because you will immediately go to the school.’
The girl told police Ihsan another time told her he wanted to ‘hurt her so badly but there are cops here’ but also told her how he would ‘kill her no matter what happens’ and he ‘did not care if anyone saw him’.
Police bodycam footage obtained by the Daily Mail showed officers arriving at the school and arresting Ihsan, who demanded to speak to his daughter.
‘Just let me tell her to come home – not like that. If I tell her to go home, she will go home,’ he insisted, but police ignored him.
Officers then had to deal with Zahraa and Haneen, who were hysterical and only left after Zahraa was allowed to speak to Ihsan.
Police did not realize Zahraa also allegedly tried to kill her daughter until four days later, leaving her free to continue looking for her daughter, who was in hiding.
Ishan’s eldest daughter Haneen, 21, and wife Zahraa Subhi Mohsin Ali, 40, were also involved in the attack. Zahraa was also charged with attempted murder but Haneen is not charged with a crime
These are some of the cuts, welts, and broken bones the teenage girl suffered when her parents allegedly tried to strangle her in an ‘honor killing’
Zahraa drove her youngest children, two boys aged five and three, into Canada and dropped them off with an Ihsan’s brother and mother, who lived there.
She then returned to Washington before trying to cross into Canada a second time with a ‘notable quantity of baggage’ on the night of October 22, but was arrested by customs officers.
The girl spent four days in St Peter Hospital for treatment after a strangulation exam, having complained of neck, throat, and jaw pain, and had difficulty swallowing.
Hospital staff listed her injuries as including redness and abrasions to her face, head, shoulders, neck, scalp, and under her chin.
She also had suffered burst blood vessels in her eyes and an eyelid droop.
‘She believes she lost consciousness three to four times during the incident,’ court documents alleged, adding that at one point she woke up with dirt pressed into her face.
‘[The girl] stated that she thought she was going to die.’
