COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio responding to a report of an armed robbery shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who they said pulled a gun from his waistband that was later determined to be a BB gun.
It happened Wednesday night in Columbus.
Police said officers were responding to a report of an armed robbery involving multiple suspects. When they arrived on the scene, they said the victim told them a group of people approached him and demanded money. The victim said one of them had a gun.
Police said the officers saw three males matching the descriptions of the suspects and tried to speak with them, when two of the suspects ran.
“Officers followed the males to the alley … and attempted to take them into custody when one suspect pulled a gun from his waistband,” police said in a statement early Thursday. “One officer shot and struck the suspect multiple times.”
The suspect, later identified as Tyree King, was taken to a children’s hospital, where he died.
The person with King was identified, interviewed and released pending further investigation. Police said additional suspects were being sought.
The officers and the other suspect were not injured.
Police said upon further investigation they determined the boy’s gun was actually a BB gun with an attached laser sight.
Police said the shooting is under investigation.
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Were there body cams present / operating? Other video? Other non-police witnesses?
Herd thinned. Most assuredly prevented more heinous mayhem at some future date.
Perhaps he" pulled out a BB gun" but it wouldn’t matter if he did or did not. The best scenario for the Cops is that he did and the Cops own the narrative. Had they said the kid didn’t “pullout a BB gun” there would be a bunch more outrage than there is now. The “waistband” thing “raises questions”.
It seems improbable to me that a 13 year old streetwise Black kid would brandish a BB gun. He knows it offers no defense and he knows it will get him shot. If anything he was trying to hide it.
But again: some Black kids run from the Cops because they know what the cops are capable of doing. They knew they had done nothing wrong and they knew that didn’t matter. So they ran. But just as in the Freddie Gray case not fast enough.
Worst case scenario - they saw the gun in his waistband and shot him .
*Course , it could be the Special Police that are allowed to shoot and kill with impunity .
The fact that they released the other kids suggest that they were not part of the group that did the crime.