Akron police shot and killed a 15-year-old boy in Sherbondy Hill on Thanksgiving night. The boy’s identity has not been released.
At 11:01 p.m., two patrol officers were doing work on a report from a different event while sitting in their parked police cruiser at East Avenue and Vernon Odom Boulevard. A news report from the Akron Police Department says that the officers got out of their car to look into it after hearing gunshots nearby.
Soon after, police found the teen with a loaded gun, and one of the cops fired his gun, according to the release. The other officer was never shot.
The officers gave the 15-year-old emergency first aid until emergency medical services came and took him to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries, according to the police.
According to a news release from Akron police Friday evening, they gave the teen’s age but not his name until they did more research and told his family.
News 5 Cleveland, a news partner of the Akron Beacon Journal, said that a person who lives nearby said they saw police officers in front of Miller South School on Thursday night.
The shooting officer had been with the department for almost five years, and his partner had been there for less than a year. As per department rules, both were put on paid administrative leave. The probe will be led by the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, which also came to the scene.
The results of this study will be looked over by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office before they are sent to the Summit County Grand Jury to be looked over.
The police in Akron will do their own review and share the results with the police chief and Akron’s independent police auditor.
On Facebook, the Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge No. 7 said that its members are helping with the probe.
In a news release sent out Friday afternoon, Akron At-Large Councilman Eric Garrett said he was sorry for the family of the deceased teen and asked the community to be patient.
“Transparency and accountability are key in moments like this, and we must allow the system to work as intended,” he said.
He also talked about how important it is to have good de-escalation training.
“We must invest in strategies and training that equip officers to safely manage encounters with individuals who may pose a threat while protecting everyone involved,” he added.
