A 14-year-old Baltimore boy is recovering after being shot by a police detective who thought he was carrying a firearm, but it was actually a spring-air-powered BB gun.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Volanda Young says that her son, Dedric Colvin was shot once in the shoulder and another time in the leg. Police, who haven’t identified Colvin as the victim yet, say the boy ran from detectives after he was spotted by them and told to stop.
“All I could see was blood. I was screaming. He gets good grades. My son is a good kid. I know he was scared. They shot at him while he was fleeing,” said Young.
Young says she was leaving to call the hospital where her son was when police handcuffed her and put her in the back of a police car, an experience she described as “humiliating.” She was also taken to a cell at one point and asked questions, all before she was able to see her son.
The police department stands by the detectives’ actions, saying that the past two days have been filled with gun violence across the city. This also happened one day after the one year anniversary of the riots spurred by the murder of Freddie Gray.
In a video from the scene, Deron Garrity, the victim’s brother is seen questioning a cop as to why his brother was shot. When told by the cops that his brother had a gun that looked real, he responded with, “if he not pointing it at police, why do they got the right to shoot?” The officer asserted that the gun was pointed at police and “thank God he is going to be ok.”
All of this comes after the City of Cleveland has agreed to pay the family of Tamir Rice, who was shot dead in a similar situation when cops thought he had a real gun, a $6 million settlement.
