Officials in Columbus, Ohio, appealed for calm, patience and investigative help Thursday, hours after a white police officer fatally shot a 13-year-old black boy who had apparently brandished a firearm that was later determined to be a BB gun.
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A friend of the 13-year-old OH boy who was fatally shot by a policeman investigating a reported armed robbery says the boy had a BB gun that looked like a real firearm and ran from police.
According to police, officers responded to a report of a $10 armed robbery in the Olde Towne East neighborhood in central Columbus and saw three males who matched the suspects’ descriptions.
Members of Tyre King’s family console each other during a vigil for 13-year-old Tyre King Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio.
In both instances, police say, the boys were shot because they were drawing guns that the shooting officers mistook for standard firearms. The Dispatch reported that police interviewed Braxton until about 1am on Thursday, and he was released pending further investigation.
Walton said there are witnesses who contradict the police narrative. The department says it awards Silver Crosses to officers who demonstrate acts of courage in unsafe situations.
It happened Wednesday night in Columbus.
Mr Braxton said police told them to get down.
Michael Brown, another unarmed black teenager, was also shot and killed on August 9, 2014, by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis. “You have to comply with lawful orders of a police officer”. The victim said on the 911 call that a suspect was carrying a Ruger pistol.
Jacobs said Mason’s future with the department beyond the period of administrative leave depends on the investigation.
“That’s unacceptable. We as a community need to come to grips with the fact, with such easy access to guns, whether they’re firearms or replicas, there’s something wrong in this country and it’s bringing its epidemic to our city streets”.
When they attempted to speak with them, two of the males ran away, it’s reported.
“He’s shooting him”, the witness said.
Police say additional suspects were being sought as the shooting and reported robbery remained under investigation.
Mason, the officer who shot Tyre, has fatally shot someone while on duty before.
“Once the investigation is complete, the prosecutor will present that to a grand jury and the grand jury will decide whether criminal charges should be filed”, Chief Jones said.
Activist Anthony Edgecombe (center) speaks about the death of Tyre King at a vigil hosted by the Ohio State Coalition for Black Liberation on September 15.
Kimberley Jacobs, the police chief, repeatedly referred to Tyree as a “young man”, and said: “This is the last thing that a police officer wants to do in their career”.
“The family is obviously distraught by the murder of Tyre”, attorney Chanda L. Brown said in the statement, describing King as a caring and loving eighth-grade boy who enjoyed playing sports, including gymnastics, and was even selected for the young scholars program.
Police say a 13-year-old boy fatally shot by an OH officer pulled a real-looking pellet gun during a confrontation, but his family’s lawyers say some witness accounts conflict with the police version of what happened. They said he had a slight build and, if anything, was on the small side for his age. “And a 13-year-old is dead because of our obsession with guns”. The teen later died in a local hospital.
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He told CBS Columbus affiliate WBNS-TV the coalition is urging police to change their approach when faced with situations like this. The officer was cleared in the incident.
