A 13-year-old boy fatally shot by police in Columbus, Ohio, was allegedly in possession of a BB gun that was almost an exact replica of a police firearm, according to the city’s mayor and police.
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Police promised to investigate the case “thoroughly”, but lawyers for King’s family called for an independent investigation, saying some witness accounts conflicted with the police version of what happened, according to the Associated Press news agency. King was shot and killed by Columbus police Wednesday evening. Rich Weiner said. “The facts are not similar, and that must be reiterated”.
“The Columbus Police Department has a history of investigating itself following these officer involved shootings and we believe that these investigations are inherently biased”, Brown said.
Police say the officers saw three males matching the descriptions of the suspects and tried to speak with them, when two of them ran off.
Lindsey Nelson says one of the rounds fired by police hit her fence.
King, who was one of those fleeing, pulled what police later determined to be a BB gun with an attached laser sight from his waistband.
King was pronounced dead soon after he arrived at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Still others, including Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, drew parallels between King’s death and that of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy who was shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland in November 2014.
It later emerged that Bryan Mason, the OH policeman involved in the shooting, had also shot and killed a man in 2012, according to reports.
“Our officers carry a gun that looks practically identical to this weapon”.
“It turns out to not be a firearm in the sense that it fires real bullet, but as you can see it looks like a firearm that could kill you”, Jacobs continued. Police say Tyre was shot in a confrontation in a Columbus alley after running from officers investigating a reported armed robbery.
Attorneys who represent the teen’s family released a statement saying what police described is “out of his normal character”.
Tyree played football and was in the young scholars program at school, Walton said. He had a slight build and, if anything, was on the small side for his age, the attorney said.
Authorities said it was unclear if the shooting was caught on surveillance or cellphone video. Thirteen people have been shot by police in Columbus; five have died.
“Detectives processed the shooting scene and collected what appeared to be a handgun”, the police statement said.
“With such easy access to guns, whether they’re firearms or replicas, there is something wrong in this country and it is bringing its epidemic to our city streets”. “As a mayor and a father, the loss of a 13-year-old in the city of Columbus is troubling”.
“Any loss of life is tragic but the loss of a young person is particularly hard”, he said.
“I just think it was bad circumstances that he had a gun”, Naderer said.
The second male who ran into the alley was interviewed by police and released.
Officers approached three boys, including King, responding to a robbery report.
A grand jury will ultimately decide whether the officer should face criminal charges, the police chief said.
At a news conference, police Chief Kim Jacobs displayed a photo of a BB gun like the one Tyre had. The caller had said the person was likely a juvenile and the weapon was probably fake, but the call taker never passed that information to the dispatcher of the responding officers.
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The US Consumer Product Safety Commission says about four people are killed each year by BB or pellet guns. Mason was cleared of any wrongdoing in that case.
