Boy, 13, killed by US police after pulling out BB gun

NEW YORK

A 13-year-old black child was shot dead by police in Ohio after they say he pulled a BB gun from his waistband to use against officers, officials said.

Officers were responding to a robbery report in Columbus at approximately 8 p.m. Wednesday when they confronted Tyree King and another male, later identified in media reports as 19-year-old Demetrius Braxton.

A robbery victim told police earlier that “a group of individuals approached him, one of them brandishing a gun, and demanded money," according to a police report.

Police observed three males matching the perpetrators' description, including King, and went after them when King and Braxton ran away, the report said.

When officers caught up to them, King allegedly pulled out a gun and was shot multiple times by an officer. He died within minutes at Nationwide Children's Hospital, according to the report.

Braxton and other officers were unharmed, it added.

The gun was later found to be a type of air gun that is a virtually indistinguishable from a police pistol -- but shoots pellets rather than actual bullets.

Braxton told The Columbus Dispatch newspaper that King wanted to rob someone. “I was in the situation,” he said. “We robbed somebody, the people I was with."

After police gave chase, Braxton said, the pair initially complied with police orders to get down, but then King "got up and ran.

"When he ran, the cops shot him," he told the newspaper, adding the bullets hit King four or five times. “I didn’t think a cop would shoot. Why didn’t they tase him?" Braxton said.

“Such a sad day in the city of Columbus,” Mayor Andrew Ginther told reporters at a press conference Thursday. “Any loss of life is tragic but the loss of a young person is particularly difficult.

“As a mayor and a father, a loss of a 13-year-old in the city of Columbus is troubling,” Ginther said.

He went on to say that a young person carrying an “exact replica” of a firearm and “involved in very, very dangerous conduct” should be a wake-up call to the community.

“There is something wrong in this country, and it is bringing its epidemic to our city streets,” the mayor said. “And a 13-year-old is dead in the city of Columbus because of our obsession with guns and violence.”

Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs showed reporters a picture of the gun that was recovered at the scene.

“Our officers carry a gun that looks practically identical to this weapon,” she said, holding up the picture.

"It turns out to not be a firearm in the sense that it fires real bullet, but as you can see it looks like a firearm that could kill you," Jacobs said.

There were no reactions from leading political figures, including President Barack Obama and presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein took to Twitter to oppose the shooting of another black child by police in Ohio.

“Just like Tamir Rice, #TyreeKing was holding a BB gun. #BlackLivesMatter,” she said.

Tamir Rice, 12, from Cleveland was fatally shot dead by police after they received an emergency call about someone brandishing a gun that the called said was probably a toy gun. The gun turned out to be a toy air gun.

The officer in the 2014 shooting, Timothy Loehman, wrote in his report that was forced to shoot after Tamir reached into his waistband and was reaching for the gun.

Surveillance video that was released later showed Loehman drew his weapon and fired just 2 seconds after arriving on the scene.