Baltimore Cops Shoot 13-Year-Old Boy Carrying Replica Handgun
On Wednesday, a Baltimore police officer shot a fleeing 13-year-old boy holding a replica semiautomatic pistol, WBAL-TV reports. Authorities say the boy is expected to survive.
According to police, two plainclothes detectives spotted the replica handgun, identified themselves as officers and approached the boy. Authorities say the boy then ran and the officers pursued on foot, shooting him at the end of the chase. From The Baltimore Sun:
[Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin] Davis said he had “no reason to believe that these officers acted inappropriately in any way,” saying the officers did not know whether the weapon was a gun or a replica.
Davis also confirmed that the boy’s mother was taken in for questioning. He told reporters at the scene that “she knew” that he had left their home with the replica weapon.
After initially refusing to show reporters, Baltimore police released an image of the replica pistol they say the boy carried.
Update on Police Involved Shooting in southeast Baltimore: https://t.co/yS6xhhGfn6 pic.twitter.com/hdIXg0hKnj
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 27, 2016
The shooting occurs exactly one year after the riots that swept Baltimore after Freddie Gray’s funeral, a fact that was not lost on Davis.
“Police officers don’t take days off,” Davis told reporters.