An 11-year-old boy from Mississippi was shot and injured by a police officer after calling 911 for help.
This drama happened in the town of Indianola, a small, mostly African-American town located in the Mississippi Delta. Aderrien was hit by a bullet in the chest fired by an Indianola Police Department officer early Saturday, May 20, when the officer responded to a call reporting a domestic disturbance at the child’s home, according to his mother, Nakala Murry, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.
His attorney, Carlos Moore, told CNN Thursday that there was no way the boy could be mistaken by the officer for the adult who was the subject of the 911 call, a man over 6 feet tall. “This 11-year-old child is about 1.2 meters tall, so he couldn’t be mistaken,” said Carlos Moore.
The circumstances of the tragedy
That evening, the mother, Nakala Murry, told her son to call the police as the father of another of her children was ‘agitated’. She felt in danger. Her daughter’s father was arrested later on Saturday, but was released because she did not file a complaint against him. She justified herself by stating: “When would I have had time to do it? I was in the hospital with my son”.
The mother said the officer who arrived at her house held his gun at the front door and asked those inside to come out. His son was then shot while coming out of the corner of a hallway in the living room. Two other children, including Nakala Murry’s daughter and her 2-year-old nephew, were also in the house at the time of the shooting.
Serious injuries were inflicted on the boy. He had a collapsed lung, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver. He was placed on a chest drain and placed on a ventilator. He was discharged from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson on Wednesday, May 25, after five days in the hospital, hospital spokeswoman Annie Oeth said.
The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation.
Body camera footage has not been made public. The lawyer said his request to view the footage was denied due to an ongoing investigation. Carlos Moore said he was also told there was video of the incident from a nearby gas station, according to CNN.
On Monday evening, the Indianola Aldermen Council voted to place Constable Capers on paid administrative leave while the shooting investigation continues. In a statement released over the weekend, the MBI said the agency was evaluating this critical incident and gathering evidence and would report its findings to the state attorney general’s office once investigation completed.
The family expressed their anger. “We demand justice,” Nakala Moore said outside City Hall on Thursday morning before the sit-in. “An 11-year-old black boy from the town of Indianola was near death. He had done nothing wrong and had done everything right,” she said.
The family demands the officer’s dismissal. The lawyer, the boy’s mother and others staged a march and rally to demand the officer’s dismissal and the release of the body camera footage.
“We believe the city and the agent should be held accountable to Aderrien Murray for the damages they caused,” the attorney said.
2023-05-26 13:35:49
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