Baltimore police are investigating the shooting of a 13-year-old boy who they say ran from them after they spotted him carrying what appeared to be a gun Wednesday afternoon, Commissioner Kevin Davis told reporters.
The teen was walking down the street with what appeared to be a Beretta 92FS semi-automatic pistol when two detectives from the police department's intelligence section asked him to stop, Davis said. The teen ran and the officers chased him, one shooting him somewhere in the lower extremities, Davis said. The commissioner said he did not know how many shots were fired or how many struck the teen. He said the teen's injuries are non-fatal.
The teen's mother told police that her son left the house with what she described as a BB gun, Davis said.
"I've been a police officer for 25 years and there's no way on this earth that I could tell you from looking at that gun that it wasn't real," Davis said. "It's a 13-year-old young man, that's not lost on me, however ... I don't know why this young man chose to flee on foot when he was approached by two Baltimore police officers."
The investigation is a criminal investigation, as always is the case when a police officer fires his or her weapon, Davis said.
