Was This NYPD Shooting Of A BB Gun Toting Teen Justified?

By Bob Owens

Attorney’s for a Brooklyn, NY teen are claiming that a surveillance video shows that the officer shot the teen twice after he dropped a BB gun and raised his hands in surrender.

Keston Charles pointed a BB gun at a group of boys during a fight in December of 2013 when he was spotted by NYPD officers .Charles fled, the gun still in his hand, and was chased through the streets of Brooklyn. Officer Jonathan Rivera fired 16 shots in three different volleys during the chase, hitting Charles in the buttocks, side, and chest.

Rivera was not disciplined in the incident.

But does the video show what attorneys claim that it does?

Charles’ lawyers insist the teen was shot in the buttocks while fleeing from the cop on Dec. 9, 2013 — and twice more in the side and chest after he’d dropped the gun and was surrendering with his hands above his head.

“I put up my hands, they was still shooting,” Charles said in a sworn deposition.

But the city and Charles’ lawyers each argue that the video — exclusively obtained by the Daily News — proves their case.

Both sides are awaiting a decision …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms