An attorney for an 11-year-old Mississippi boy who was shot by police after he called 911 for help said Thursday that there was “no way” the boy could be mistaken for an adult.
Attorney Carlos Moore is demanding “a full and transparent investigation” into the shooting.
Adrrien Murry is recovering from hospital discharge, according to his family, who have called for the officer to be fired and charged with shooting. According to Moore, the boy is traumatized and will need counseling.
Adrrien was shot in the chest by an Indianola Police Department officer early Saturday morning while the officer was answering a domestic disturbance call at the child’s home, according to the boy’s mother, Nakala Murry, and the Bureau of Investigations. check Mississippi.
Moore told CNN on Thursday that there was “no way” police could mistake the boy for an adult who was the subject of the 911 call – a man “more than 6 feet tall”.
“This 11-year-old is about 4 feet 10 tall and so unmistakable,” Moore said. “So we don’t know what happened, but we do know this officer’s actions were reckless, very reckless and could have resulted in death.”
Moore said the boy “did everything right” on the morning of the shooting and described him as “a good student” who obeyed his mother’s request to call the police for assistance.
“No child has ever suffered such violence at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve,” Moore said in a statement earlier on Thursday.
“We must demand justice for this boy and his family. We cannot allow a senseless tragedy like this to happen. We must unite as a community to demand change and accountability from our law enforcement officials.”
The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation.
Moore, the boy’s mother and others staged a sit-in demonstration Thursday morning at Indianola City Hall. A march and demonstration to demand the dismissal of the officer and the release of body footage is planned for Saturday.
“We are demanding justice,” Moore said outside City Hall on Thursday morning ahead of the session. “An 11-year-old Negro boy from Indianola nearly lost his life. He did nothing wrong and everything was right.”
The Indiana Police Department on Friday referred all questions regarding the incident to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which declined to comment beyond a short statement issued late last week.
The boy was seriously injured and suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs and torn liver after the shooting. He was discharged from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson on Wednesday, hospital spokeswoman Annie Oeth said.
“He still has a lot of questions,” Moore said of the boy Thursday. “He is emotionally distraught. He is very happy to be alive.”
Murry said her son was “lucky” to be alive and was asking why police shot him.
Murry told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday that officers came shouting “Open the door, open the door,” and when she opened the door, an officer outside raised a gun and told her to get out. .
Murry told the show she stepped outside and walked towards the end of the driveway where her mother was, then “heard a gunshot and I saw my son running towards us.” He then fell, bleeding from a gunshot wound, she said.
The officer who fired the gun told her he shot Adrrien after he went around a corner, she told the show.
Moore told CNN that he met Adrrien in person for the first time on Thursday and described him as “in good spirits” but “still in shock about what happened.”
He added, “He was afraid of the police. I’m still in pain.”
Moore said the police department has yet to contact the boy’s mother.
MOTHER REQUIRED TO CALL THE POLICE
Murry told CNN that the “angry” father of another of her children came to her home at 4 a.m. Saturday.
Worried for his safety, Murry asks Adrrien to call the police.
Murry said the officer who arrived at the home “drawn a gun at the front door and asked the people inside to get out.” Murry said her son was shot as he walked around the corner into the living room.
Murry said: “When he came from the corner, he was shot. “I cannot understand why. It was the same policeman who told him to get out of the house. (Adrrien) did, and he was shot. He kept asking, ‘Why did he shoot me? What did I do wrong?’” she said.
The shooting happened about “one to two minutes” after the officer asked the occupants to get out, Murry said.
The boy was placed on a chest catheter and placed on a ventilator at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs and torn liver from the shooting, his mother said. He was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. CNN has contacted the hospital.
Two other children, including Murry’s 2-year-old daughter and grandson, were also in the home at the time of the shooting, she said.
THE BODY CAMERA MOVIE has not been released yet
Moore told CNN the incident was captured on police cameras.
The lawyer said his request for body camera footage was denied due to “an ongoing investigation.”
Moore said he was told he also had video of the incident from a nearby gas station.
The Indianola Police Department confirmed that the officer involved in the shooting was named Greg Capers but did not provide any further details about the shooting, telling CNN the sheriff was not present.
CNN has reached out to Capers for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
According to the family’s attorney, on Monday night, Indianola’s Aldermen Council voted to give Capers paid administrative leave while the shooting was investigated.
In 2021, Capers was named the Chief Street Officer of the Indianola Division, according to Enterprise-Tocsin, an Indianola, Mississippi newspaper.
In a statement over the weekend, MBI said it is “evaluating this serious incident and gathering evidence” and will forward its findings to the state attorney general’s office once the investigation is complete.
On Wednesday, MBI spokesman Bailey Martin declined to answer additional questions, telling CNN in an email, “Given this is an open and ongoing investigation, there will be no comment. what more.”
CNN has reached out to the 4th District Attorney’s Office and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office for comment.
ANGRY FAMILY POLICE DEPARTMENT IS ALSO WORKED BY THE DEPARTMENT
Murry said that after her son was shot, she put her hand on his wound to apply pressure as he “singed gospel songs and prayed while bleeding.” She said the officer tried to provide first aid and put his hand on hers to try to stop the bleeding for Adrrien.
When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics were “very attentive,” she said.
“Aderrien almost lost his life,” Moore said. “It’s not okay for a police officer to do this and ignore this. The mother asked Adrrien to call the police about her daughter’s father. He walked out of the room as directed by the police and he was shot.”
Murry said police told her her daughter’s father was taken into custody late Saturday but was eventually released because she had failed to file a police report against him.
“When will I have time to do it? I’m in the hospital with my son,” she said, reacting to the news that the man had been released from custody.
Four days after the shooting, Murry told CNN that “nobody came from the police station to the hospital,” nor did she speak to any police investigators about the shooting.
“I’m so glad my son is alive,” she said through tears.
Moore told CNN he’s furious that Capers is still working for the Indianola Police Department.
“We believe that the city and that officer are legally responsible to Adrrien Murray for the damages they have caused,” the attorney said.
Indianola is a small, predominantly African American town with 31% of the population living below the poverty line. It is located in the Mississippi River Delta, about 100 miles north of Jackson.
