A white Ohio police officer responding to reports of an armed robbery fatally shot a black 13-year-old boy after he pulled out what appeared to be a weapon that was later determined to be a BB gun, police said on Thursday.
The teen was shot multiple times when he drew what appeared to be a handgun from his waistband during a confrontation with police officers in an alley on Wednesday in Columbus, the state capital, police said.
Police identified the victim as Tyree King, although a family lawyer said the boy’s first name was Tyre.
Photo: AP
“We consider it a tragedy when something like this happens,” Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs told a news conference. “This is the last thing any police officer wants.”
Jacobs identified the officer who shot King as Bryan Mason, a nine-year veteran. Mason was placed on temporary administrative duty, pending an internal investigation.
The family said in a statement released by a Columbus law firm that it retained to investigate the shooting that “numerous witness accounts are in direct conflict with the officer’s version of events.”
Photo: AP
The family also said reports of King’s actions before the shooting were allegations only at this point and called for an independent investigation.
“The family is obviously distraught by the murder of Tyre,” attorney Chanda Brown said in the statement, which described him as a typical 13-year-old boy, who was active in football, soccer, hockey and gymnastics.
“They are shocked and indicate the actions described by the police are out of his normal character,” she said.
More than 150 people, including some of King’s family members, gathered for a prayer vigil on Thursday near where he was shot, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
“My eyes are still swollen and my head still hurts,” King’s 13-year-old sister, Marshay Caldwell, said. “He’s really not coming back.”
Detectives retrieved the weapon from the scene of the shooting and later determined it was a BB gun, which shoots small round pellets, with an attached laser.
“It looks like a firearm that could kill you,” Jacobs said, as he held up an image of the same type of BB gun.
The incident began just before 8pm on Wednesday when police responded to reports of an armed robbery. The victim told officers that a group of males had demanded money, threatening him with a gun, police said.
A short time later officers found three males, including King, matching the descriptions of the suspects, police said.
While attempting to question them, King and another male fled into an alley.
Police followed and Mason shot King after he pulled what appeared to be a handgun from his waistband, police said.
The Columbus Dispatch identified the second male as Demetrius Braxton, 19, who told the newspaper in an interview that he was with King for both the robbery and the shooting.
“I was in the situation. We robbed somebody, the people I was with,” Braxton told the Dispatch.
Braxton said that, following the robbery, the suspects were chased by police officers.
“The cops said to get down. We got down, but my friend [King] got up and ran,” Braxton said. “He started to run. When he ran, the cops shot him.”
Braxton told the paper that King was shot four or five times.
A grand jury would ultimately decide whether the police officer should face criminal charges, Jacobs said.
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