Jaheim McMillan's Death: New Details Emerge In Officer-Involved Shooting Of Black Mississippi Teen

A 15-year-old Black boy who was shot in the head by a Gulfport, Mississippi, police officer has died after battling for life for days. Jaheim McMillan was taken off the ventilator Saturday.

New details are now emerging about the teen's shooting death.

"The officer gave orders to him to stop and drop his weapon. McMillan did not comply," Gulfport Police Chief Adam Cooper said in a news conference Tuesday. "McMillan turned his body and his weapon toward the officer. The officer fired at McMillan."

McMillan's relatives and community members held protests outside the Gulfport Police Department office demanding justice for him immediately after Cooper spoke to the press. The family believes the boy was not armed and is now pushing for the bodycam footage to be released.

McMillan was shot outside a Family Dollar store on Oct. 6. Cooper told reporters that they'd received 911 calls about several armed minors in camouflage masks pointing guns at passing motorists. He claimed officers received descriptions of the vehicle and the individuals involved, whom they spotted in the parking lot of the store.

"We made contact with the individuals, they then fled from the vehicle. One of our officers engage with an armed individual. Shots were fired," he said. Four other teens, all under 17, were arrested later that day and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, WLOX reported.

All the teens confessed that they drove recklessly and held up guns at passing motorists. They are being held on a total bond of $500,000 ($250,000 for each charge).

McMillan was initially taken to a local hospital and was transferred to the Mobile Hospital. He died there Saturday evening. No details about the officer who shot the boy were revealed.

A video taken by a bystander after McMillan was shot shows the teen on the ground, right outside the store's door. He was handcuffed by the police after he was shot, said a witness, AP reported.

Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating McMillan's shooting. The involved officer "has been placed on non-enforcement duties in accordance with procedures," police said in a statement.

McMillan's mother, Katrina Mateen, told WLOX-TV that she was handcuffed by officers and made to walk across the street when she arrived at the store following her son's shooting.

Mateen, who was there at Tuesday's protest, said police were trying to intimidate her by driving patrol cars with flashing lights past her house at night.

"Gulfport police know who I am and always have," she told the Sun Herald. "I just wanna know why. Why did they have to shoot my son?"