The shooting of a 14-year-old boy Sunday by a rookie police officer has shocked New York City. The police commissioner concedes that the teen may be the youngest person ever killed by the NYPD.
Despite the tragic young age of Shaaliver Douse, Ray Kelly was quick to defend the white 26-year-old officer, who just graduated from the police academy last month.
Kelly said the teen had fired multiple rounds and was chasing someone through the streets of the Bronx about 3am Sunday.
When two officers confronted him, he refused to drop the pistol and pointed it at them, the Commissioner said at a press conference Sunday evening.
The officer fired a single round from his 9mm service pistol, striking Shaaliver in the jaw and killing him.
Police sources told the New York Times that they believe Shaaliver was pursuing a gang rival. Detectives believe the incident was also related to the shooting of a 15-year-old boy in May, for which Shaaliver was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
The NYPD released a picture of an Astra 9mm semiautomatic pistol covered in the boy’s blood – in an effort to prove that he was armed at the time he was killed.
The department also produced surveillance video that purportedly shows Shaaliver in a white t-shirt running toward a man standing in front of a bodega and opening fire.
A second video shows Shaaliver chasing the target around the corner. It was there that the teen was confronted by police.
Read more: dailymail.co.uk
