By Police1 Staff
BALTIMORE — A video posted on Facebook taken shortly after Baltimore officers shot and wounded a 13-year-old carrying a replica shows police response amidst tense community relations, Business Insider reported.
The video shows Maj. Derron Garrity explaining the shooting to the boy’s brother and that officers thought the weapon was real.
“No cop wants to shoot anybody,” Garrity said. “Nobody. But if somebody’s got a gun, how am I supposed to tell these officers, ‘Hey, make sure that he shoots you first, and then you can do it?’”
The boy’s brother then questioned why police shot his brother if he wasn’t pointing the replica at officers. Garrity explained the teenager did point his gun at officers.
The incident occurred April 27 after a teen carrying a replica was spotted by two plainclothes officers. When they approached him and identified themselves, the teen ran away. Officers pursued the suspect and commanded him to drop the weapon.
When he ignored orders to put his hands in the air, officers shot and wounded him. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening wounds.
Police Commissioner Kevin Davis praised the officers for their actions as the gun was a “dead-on ringer” for a semiautomatic pistol, he told ABC News.
“This is exactly what our community expects a police officer to do when they see someone with a firearm,” Davis said.