The boy was expected to survive his injuries from the shooting, police said, which took place one year after unrest broke out after the funeral of Freddie Gray.
A 13-year-old boy was shot by a police officer in Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday, after the officer saw what he believed to be a semi-automatic handgun, officials said.
What officers thought was a handgun ultimately proved to be a replica BB gun, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis told reporters.
The boy was expected to survive his injuries, Davis said.
"My thoughts and prayers are with him," Davis said. "My thoughts and prayers are with his family."
The incident comes just two days after the city of Cleveland, Ohio, paid $6 million as part of a settlement with the family of Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by police while holding a replica weapon in 2014.
Commissioner Davis said the two plainclothes officers approached the boy after spotting the 13-year-old holding the replica pistol. As they identified themselves as police, the boy ran, Davis said. The officers followed, and one of them shot the boy.
"Those police officers had no way of knowing it was not an actual firearm," Davis said.
More details on what happened before the shooting were not immediately available, but Davis said police and the state's attorney's office would be investigating if the shooting was criminal or it violated police policy.
The boy's mother was also being interviewed by police, but Davis said she had not been arrested.
The shooting took place on the one-year anniversary of the funeral of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man who died after injuries he sustained while in police custody in Baltimore. His funeral was followed by protests and unrest in the city.
"It is not lost on me what April 27th means to this city," Davis said.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1qVfZkh
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