A teenager was shot seven times by a police officer on Friday night while attempting to run away from cops.
Radazz Hearns, 14, survived the shooting and is recovering at a Trenton, New Jersey hospital, NJ.com reported.
Rhonda Tirado witnessed the shooting as she sat in front of her home on Friday night when an unmarked minivan stopped across the street. Three officers exited the vehicle to question the youngsters.
"Those police were amped and they didn't give that little boy a chance. There was no room for no chase. They just shot that little boy right there," she told the outlet on Wednesday.
"I don't think those little boys had no clue what was going on. I think they was at the wrong place at the wrong time.''
(Family Handout)
The Attorney General's office is reportedly investigating the shooting. They claimed that three officers were responding to reports of shots fired and encountered three boys near the scene. Twelve hours after the shooting, police recovered a .22-caliber handgun underneath nearby.
Another witness to shooting questioned the police response in an interview with the Trentonian.
“The boy didn’t even come from that direction, so I don’t see how his gun could’ve been found over there near Pashley Avenue. If the suspect was running from Pashley, then why were the rear of homes on Dunham Street hit with bullets.”
Family Attorney Samuel A Anyan Jr said that police will need to justify: "Why they were trying to execute a 14-year-old boy. You don't have the right to be judge, jury and executioner."
The attorney told NJ.com that the teen was shot "five times in the right leg, once in the left leg and has a bullet lodged in his pelvis."
Other witnesses told the paper that a responding officer threw his arms in the air as if to say "Oh my God," when another cop unloaded nearly 10 shots. The boy reportedly cried out: "Why they have to shoot me?"
