By Jared M. Swain
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Baltimore City police officers involved in the shooting of a teenager last Wednesday will not be charged, police said.
The incident occurred at about 4:10 p.m. on April 27 in the area of Aisquith Street and Baltimore Street when two Baltimore intelligence detectives observed a male with a handgun, police said.
Police said the officers identified themselves as police officers and the male ran.
The officers began to chase the suspect on foot, police said, adding that after the chase a shooting occurred.
The suspect, a 13-year-old male, was transported to an area hospital for treatment with non-life threatening injuries. Police said the officers were not injured during the incident.
Investigators from the Special Investigation Response Team were called to the scene and are investigating the circumstances around this incident. A replica handgun was recovered from the scene, police said.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said the handgun was “a replica semi-automatic pistol.”
“I looked at it myself,” Davis said. “I stood right over top of it. I put my own eyes on it. It’s an absolute identical replica of a semi-automatic pistol. Those police officers had no way of knowing it was not an actual firearm. It looks like a real firearm.”
According to police, the mother of the 13-year-old knew that her son had left their home with what the mom describes as a BB gun in his hand.
In his public update, Davis said that he had “no reason to believe that these officers acted inappropriately at this moment.”
“We’ve had a significant spike of gun violence, homicides, and non-fatal shootings in our city,” Davis said. “So our police officers are doing exactly what we asked them to do…identifying people illegally carrying guns in our communities. No police officer wants to shoot a 13-year-old.”
April 27 was the one year anniversary of the Baltimore uprising, a series of both violent and peaceful protests in the name of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody.