Here’s one of the main reasons Black people’s tumultuous relationship with police officers is all but assured to continue: Cops don’t seem to learn from previous high-profile incidents.
Nearly a decade after the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, an officer in Akron, Ohio,—the same city where officers of the same police department shot and killed Jayland Walker—shot a 15-year-old Black child who was holding a fake gun, and police bodycam footage shows that the officer fired a shot within a split second of questioning the teen and exiting his vehicle.
According to WKYC, the incident took place on April 1, after a woman in the Goodyear Heights neighborhood called 911 to report a teen, identified as Tavion Koonce-Williams, pointing a gun at homes near the intersection of Tonawanda Avenue and Newton Street. Note that 911 dispatch was not told any shots were fired or that the gun was being pointed at people. Regardless, the officer in question almost appeared to have arrived at the scene with the intent to shoot first and ask questions maybe never.
Well, he did ask one question. From WKYC:
Police say the first call about the teen suspect came in at 7:04 p.m. “He pulled it (the gun) out and acted like he was going to shoot their houses,” a woman told a 911 dispatcher.
The officer spotted the person matching the caller’s description walking on Brittain Road near the corner of Ottawa Avenue. The officer can be heard asking the teen where he was coming from and ordering him to show his hands.
As he was set to exit his car, the officer fired one shot at the teen, striking him in the hand.
“Shots fired, shots fired,” the officer can be heard saying. “It’s fake. It’s fake, it’s fake,” the suspect screams several times in response. The officer orders the teen to get on the ground.
The officer handcuffed Tavion, but then removed the cuffs after noticing the…
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