A 13-year-old boy was shot and killed
by police officers for carrying a replica assault weapon in Santa Rosa,
California, on Tuesday afternoon. The
boy's father, Rodrigo Lopez, identified the dead teen as his son Andy
and said he had been carrying ‘a toy gun’ belonging to a friend.
According
to police, two Sonoma County deputies were on patrol at 3 p.m. when
they observed the boy walking with what they believed to be a rifle. The deputies called for backup and
repeatedly ordered the boy to drop the rifle, Sheriff's Lt. Dennis
O'Leary said in a news release. At some point after the deputies told Lopez to drop the rifle, they fired several rounds and hit him multiple times.
After ordering Lopez to move away
from the rifle, deputies approached the unresponsive teen as he lay on
the ground and handcuffed him before administering first aid and calling
for medical assistance, O'Leary said.
Lopez was later pronounced dead at the scene, while neither deputy was injured.
After securing the scene, deputies
discovered the rifle was merely a replica. Deputies also found a plastic
handgun in the teen's waistband. Police are referring to the gun as a replica of an AK-47 style rifle, while the
Lopez family have described it as a ‘toy.’ It isn’t clear if it was capable of firing BBs or other projectiles.
Rodrigo Lopez told The Press Democrat that the last time he saw his son was on Tuesday morning as he was leaving for work.
‘I told him what I tell him every day,’ he said in Spanish. ‘Behave yourself.’
The boy’s grief-stricken mom, Sujey Annel Cruz Cazarez, said 'Why did they kill him? Why?'
Sheriff's officials have not released the names of the deputies who have been placed on administrative leave.
