Boy, 13, killed by police
Columbus, Ohio officers say he had a BB gun with laser sight
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A black boy. A white Ohio police officer. A pellet gun that looked like a real weapon. And a deadly shooting.
In a killing with unavoidable echoes of the Tamir Rice case out of Cleveland, a Columbus officer responding to a report of a $10 armed robbery shot a 13-year-old boy Wednesday night after the youngster pulled a BB gun from his waistband that looked “practically identical” to the weapon police use, authorities say.
On the morning after Tyre King’s death, Mayor Andrew Ginther appeared to choke up as he called for the community to come together and said, “… a 13year-old is dead in the city of Columbus because of our obsession with guns and violence.”
While the case is still under investigation, police and city authorities rejected comparisons to the 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir in Cleveland.
“The only thing similar in nature is the age, race and outcome,” police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner said.
In a 911 call Wednesday, the robbery victim calmly indicated he didn’t want to make a big deal over $10.
Officers investigating the robbery report east of downtown Columbus spotted three males who matched the description of the suspects, authorities said. Two of the males ran away when officers tried to speak with them.
The police chased the pair into an alley and tried to take them into custody. Tyre pulled out a gun with a laser sight, and an officer fired, hitting the boy repeatedly, police said. Tyre died at a hospital.
The officer was identified as Bryan Mason, a nineyear veteran of the force. Police records show that in 2012 he shot and killed a man who was holding another person at gunpoint. The Columbus Dispatch said investigators cleared him.
At a news conference, police Chief Kim Jacobs displayed a photo of a BB gun like the one Tyre had.
“Our officers carry a gun that looks practically identical to this weapon,” she said.
An attorney for Tyre’s family, Sean Walton, said the boy had no violent criminal history and was in the young scholars program at school.
Authorities said it was unclear if the shooting was caught on surveillance or cell phone video. Columbus police don’t use body cameras.
The male who had been with Tyre was questioned and released pending further investigation, police said.