Columbus police say he ran from investigators pursuing potential suspects in the robbery, then pulled a BB gun from his waistband that looked like a real firearm and was repeatedly shot by an officer.
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Police say an officer who believed the gun was real shot the boy Wednesday night after witnesses reported a group of people had robbed a man of $10.
“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.
He said hes looking for people with information in the case to come forward. “What is now out there might not be true”.
Nineteen-year-old Demetrius Braxton tells The Columbus Dispatch he had run away with Tyre and was with him when the shooting occurred.
“Our objective was mainly to express solidarity with Tyre King and his family, just to show that we won’t stay “calm” as suggested by the Columbus police chief, (and) we won’t trust the police’s account of the event”, Pesala said. He says they did, but then Tyre got up and ran and was shot, the paper reported Friday. Braxton, 19, was charged with one count of robbery, a second-degree felony.
Columbus police on Saturday also said Tyre’s friend, Demetrius Braxton, was arrested in connection with the robbery that preceded the shooting.
The male who had been with Tyree was interviewed and released pending further investigation, police said.
Officers followed the pair into a nearby alley and tried to take them into custody.
Mayor Andrew Ginther said in the wake of the shooting that Columbus is the safest big city in America, yet some residents in poor neighborhoods disagree, saying it doesn’t feel that way. She says the official manner of death is pending, with a final report not expected for several weeks.
Columbus police chased after Tyre and two other males after responding to the report.
Friday morning, a candle burned next to a bouquet of white flowers in the alley where the boy was shot. Braxton remains held without bond.
Many of these polices have already been adopted in some departments, including a duty to intervene if officers witness colleagues using excessive or unnecessary force; requiring officers to render first aid to subjects who have been injured as a result of police actions; prohibiting use of deadly force against persons who pose a danger only to themselves; and specific limits on shooting at vehicles. A grand jury declined to indict Mason with criminal wrongdoing in the shooting.
Pesala said hundreds of students walked past the protest, as well as many alumni who were present at OU for Black Alumni Reunion weekend.
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Of course, he is, you know, not happy about having to be in that situation, but at the end of the day he had to do what he had to do, Pappas said.
