Texas Eighth Grader Shot Down by Police Who Mistook Air Gun for Real Weapon
An eighth grade student was killed by the Texas police when he refused to lower a pellet gun, which looked like a real gun, according to the police sources. Jaime Gonzalez, 15, had several opportunities to lower the gun but didn't want to, said acting Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez.
Two officers fired three shots at Gonzalez, of which two hit him. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital. Police are awaiting autopsy reports.
Gonzalez had entered a Cummings Middle School classroom and punched a boy in the nose. Later he brandished a weapon that looked like a real gun, the police said. School authorities had called the police when they saw the gun in the boy's hand.
The boy, according to the police, refused to lower the weapon, despite repeated warnings to do so. Instead, he confronted the police with it, forcing officers to shoot him down. The gun was later identified as a carbon dioxide-powered pellet gun.
The reasons for the class-room fight are not known yet.
The school authorities had locked down the class rooms when police arrived, and students were evacuated to a safe place. The school was shut for the day.
Police investigation continued at the school premises, according to a CBS news report.
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