Columbus,OH pigs ? a black 13-year-old boy Tyre King who was carrying laser BB gun...

Arrest made in initial robbery that led to police shooting of 13-year-old

Columbus Police have arrested a suspect in the robbery that led to the police shooting of 13-year-old Tyre King.

Nineteen-year-old Demetrius Braxton was arrested and charged with one count of robbery Saturday afternoon.

According to Franklin County Municipal court records, on Sept. 14 Braxton pulled out a gun during a robbery along South 18th Street, just south of East Broad Street.

Columbus Police officers noticed three males matching the description of the suspects on Hoffman Street. When approached by the officers, two suspects ran. When police caught up with Tyre King, they say he had a BB gun in his waistband and police shot him when he reached for it, and King was killed.

Braxton also allegedly threatened the victim and demanded the victim to empty his pockets. The victim dropped $10 on the ground.

Braxton is now facing a second degree felony and his troubles with the law date back to 2010. At age 12, he was charged with attempted ? and gross sexual imposition then charged with assaulting a juvenile detention officer and choking and punching another person.

He was charged five times with setting off a fire alarm to try to get out of a juvenile detention center. In 2012, a magistrate said Franklin County Children's Services was unable to find an appropriate treatment facility for King's special needs in Ohio. He was sent to a center in Michigan.

Columbus Police continue to investigate both the robbery and the officer-involved shooting.

Community, city officials talk about death of Tyre King

Rev. John T. Boston II was midway through a prayer meeting at the Central Seventh-day Adventist Church on Wednesday evening when 13-year-old Tyre King was shot and killed outside the church by a Columbus police officer.

He watched from a church window as the flashing lights from cruisers and emergency vehicles grew in a nearby alley, about a block northeast of the corner of South 18th and Oak streets.

“One thing that I really prayed for, as a person of faith, was that we would not have to ever experience in Columbus the loss of life between a police officer and a young African-American male or female,” he said. “It’s devastating.”

King, a black teenager, was shot and killed while being chased by Officer Bryan Mason. Police say King had robbed a man and was shot after he pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants — a gun that later was determined to be a BB gun.

Boston spoke to several hundred people at his church Friday night. He helped organize the gathering to allow the community an opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings and also to address Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, Police Chief Kim Jacobs and Director of Public Safety Ned Pettus Jr.

Ginther said it’s a time of mourning in Columbus, describing King as a “child of ? ” and “a neighbor.”

“These are challenging and troubling times for us as a community,” Ginther said. “But I believe in the people of Columbus. I believe that if we are honest with each other, if we’re open, if we’re transparent and hold each other accountable, we will emerge stronger as a city and as a community."

The mayor also said he hopes the city can “draw a line in the sand” against violence, and he questioned society’s obsession with guns. He added that it is “unacceptable” for a 13-year-old to be armed with a “firearm replica.”

Community members lined the rows between the pews of the Olde Towne East church, waiting to take the microphone and ask city officials about King’s death, public safety in general and the police’s ability to connect with the community.

Susan Smith, founder of Crazy Faith Ministries in the University District, questioned the amount of focus that Chief Jacobs put on the BB gun during a news conference that Columbus police held after King’s death. She also criticized the description of King as an armed suspect during that event, saying it was “dehumanizing.”

Jacobs said her goal was to show how much the BB gun looked like a real firearm, and to point out that it had the potential to appear threatening to an officer.

“But I apologize for being insensitive. That was not my intention,” Jacobs said. “We are always trying to improve the way that we are getting our message across, and I will work on that.”

The community conversation Friday night was preceded by a march through the Olde Towne East neighborhood where King died. Boston led the procession as passers-by slowly joined behind percussionists of the Central Crusaders Pathfinders, a Central Seventh-day Adventist Church youth group.

Zawadi Yaashantawa, a member of the Far South Area Commission, said the presence of city officials and police signaled to her that they care, but she said the conversation was only the first step toward progress.

“This was a positive first step in creating a dialogue between the community and the police department,” she said. “I think it had a great impact.”

Brother_Five wrote: »

They saying shorty got shot while running away

Tyre King 'more likely than not' running from Columbus police when fatally shot

A 13-year-old boy fatally shot by Columbus, Ohio, police last week was “more likely than not” running away from an officer at the time he was killed, according to an independent medical examiner retained by the child’s family.

Attorneys for the family of Tyre King said on Monday that the local coroner’s office completed its autopsy of the child’s body, but the results wouldn’t be made available for at least six weeks. In response to the delay, the attorneys said, Tyre’s family decided to hire an independent forensic pathologist from Michigan to evaluate the number, characteristics and location of the gunshot wounds on Tyre.

“Based on the location and the direction of the wound paths it is more likely than not that Tyre King was in the process of running away from the shooter or shooters when he suffered all three gunshot wounds,” the examiner, Dr Francisco Diaz, said, according to a statement from the family. Co-attorney Sean Walton told the Guardian in an email that Diaz conducted his examination of Tyre’s body on Sunday. The attorneys didn’t immediately respond to a request for a copy of Diaz’s report.

Tyre was killed last Wednesday at 7.42pm, when authorities responded to a report of an armed robbery of $10 by a group of teenagers. When officers arrived, Tyre was spotted with two other males who matched a description of the suspects and soon fled on foot. As officer Bryan Mason approached King, police said the child removed a BB gun from his waistband, before he was shot “multiple” times. Tyre was transferred to a hospital and pronounced dead at 8.22pm.

Mason, a nine-year veteran of the Columbus police division, has since been placed on administrative leave and will receive psychological counseling. Authorities have said Tyre’s BB gun resembled a real firearm, and the police division’s chief Kim Jacobs said her officers “carry a gun that looks practically identical to this weapon”.

Diaz found that Tyre, who the examiner noted was 5ft tall and weighed less than 100lbs, died from three gunshot wounds, “any of which could be determined to have been cause of death”, according to the family’s statement. The wounds were found on his temple, collarbone and the left flank, the statement said.

Diaz is an assistant professor of pathology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, according to his LinkedIn page, and since 2001 he has worked as a medical examiner in Wayne County, Michigan. Diaz didn’t didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Tia Moretti, public information officer for the Franklin County coroner’s office, confirmed results of Tyre’s cause of death and manner are pending, as toxicology tests won’t be completed for at least six weeks.

Columbus police on Saturday also said Tyre’s friend, Demetrius Braxton, was arrested in connection with the robbery that preceded the shooting. Braxton, 19, was charged with one count of robbery, a second-degree felony. Last week, he told the Columbus Dispatch that Tyre wanted to rob someone for money, and that he was with him at the time of the shooting.

“The cops said to get down,” Braxton told the newspaper. “We got down, but my friend got up and ran … [and] when he ran, the cop shot him.” Police claimed in court documents that Braxton was armed with “what appeared to be a black semi-automatic handgun”, according to the ABC affiliate in Columbus, and that he was involved in the robbery of a man for $10. Braxton was expected to be arraigned on Monday.

Attorneys for Tyre’s family declined a request by the Guardian on Sunday for an interview. In the statement, the family asked the public to “continue to withhold final judgment until all the facts are known and vetted”. The family reiterated its request for an independent investigation and called upon the Columbus police division and Franklin County prosecutor’s office, which has jurisdiction over the city, to be removed from the current probe of Tyre’s death.

“The Columbus police department, the City of Columbus and most importantly Tyre King and his family deserve the benefit of an investigation from a law enforcement agency that has no direct impact from the outcome of that investigation,” the statement said.

Personnel records released of officer who shot, killed Tyre King

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — While the investigation into the police-involved shooting that claimed the life of 13-year-old Tyre King last Wednesday continues, ABC 6/FOX 28 has received personnel records and more details about the officer in the case.

Personnel files released for Columbus Police officer Bryan Mason showed that the nine-year veteran officer had either met or exceeded in all job review categories since joining the ranks in 2007.

There were also several letters of praise, and numerous awards for good work. Those include a 2008 chief's recognition for Mason's participation on the Summer Strike Force Initiative to help cut crime in neighborhoods. He also received numerous letters of praise for professionalism.

But a closer look also shows the shooting of 13-year-old Tyre King isn't the first time Mason's used his gun on the job. Records show Mason was cleared in a September 2009 shooting along North 4th Street. Investigators say a suspect in that case shot and injured two officers before taking his life. For his part, Mason was a Silver Cross Award for shooting at the suspect to protect people and fellow officers.

In 2009. Officer Mason also received recognition after shooting a dog that attacked and bit a fellow officer during the course of an investigation.

Mason was also cleared in the 2012 shooting death of a suspect holding another man at gunpoint along Howey Road.

A search of Mason's file also revealed at least 50 citizen complaints alleging excessive force to inappropriate language. A breakdown of use of force complaints, shows 21 of those who complained were male, three were female. A breakdown shows 54% percent were filed by African-Americans, 46% were white. None of the use of force complaints were sustained against Mason.

Grand jury doesn’t indict officer in shooting of 13-year-old Tyre King

Eight months after the shooting death of 13-year-old Tyre King by a Columbus police officer, a Franklin County grand jury decided on Friday that the use of deadly force was justified.

The grand jury voted not to indict Officer Bryon Mason for his actions in the Sept. 14 shooting in Olde Town East.

At least seven of the nine grand jurors had to agree that the officer’s actions were unlawful in order to return an indictment.

King was among a group of young people suspected in a $10 robbery when he was fatally shot by Mason after King pulled a BB gun from his waistband as he ran from police. The gun, found at the scene, was designed to look like a real firearm and equipped with a laser sight.

Mason, who had been involved in three earlier shootings, one of them fatal, has since been placed on narcotics duty by Chief Kim Jacobs.

The robbery was reported by a man who said he was approached on South 18th Street near Madison Street about 7:40 p.m. by a young man who asked him the time, then another man who came from the same group and was armed with a handgun. He said the group fled after he handed over $10.

Officers responding to 911 calls about the robbery confronted two young men who matched descriptions provided by the victim, prompting a foot chase that ended with the shooting behind Hoffman Avenue.

Some Columbus residents have raised questions about the circumstances surrounding fatal shootings involving Columbus police officers and demanded independent investigations. City officials and police have held public forums to improve community interaction and police are beginning to wear body cameras.

A series of protests have taken place concerning the officer-involved shooting deaths of Tyre King and Henry Green, both black males.

On May 6, several hundred people gathered to speak out against killings by police, mass incarceration and racial injustice. The protest began at Franklin Park on the East Side before demonstrators marched down East Broad, shouting chants of “black lives matter” and “enough is enough,” spilling into the roadway before police on bicycles guided them back onto the sidewalks.

The group of 300 to 400 protesters, some from Cleveland, Cincinnati and other Ohio cities, marched to the governor’s mansion, with some protesters shouting at police as they walked.

In March, a Franklin County grand jury decided that the use of deadly force against Green by officers Jason Bare and Zachary Rosen was justified.

In June 2016, Bare and Rosen were wearing civilian clothes and patrolling in an unmarked SUV when they said they saw Green, 23, and a friend walking in the area of Duxberry Avenue and Ontario Street in South Linden. The officers said they saw a gun in Green’s hand and that he raised it toward their vehicle.

According to police, the officers jumped from the SUV, identified themselves as police and ordered Green to drop his gun. Instead, police said, Green pointed his gun at the officers and fired. The officers returned fire. O’Brien said Green fired six shots, Bare fired seven and Rosen 15. Green was shot seven times.

Last week, a deputy Columbus police chief recommended that Rosen be disciplined for a more recent incident in which a bystander captured video of Rosen using his left foot to strike the head of a restrained suspect. The video of the April 8 incident shows Rosen delivering a single kick or stomp to the man, who was handcuffed behind his back, lying on his stomach on a concrete driveway and being restrained by another officer.

The case still must go to a hearing before Chief Jacobs to act on the recommendation. If she upholds the decision, Rosen has the option of appealing to the public safety director.