POLICE BRUTALITY IN THE 504: NEW ORLEANS TEEN DIES AFTER BEING SHOT BY POLICE
The fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy by New Orleans police has stunned his family, and they dispute the police account that he waved a weapon at an officer.
Dawonne Matthews was killed shortly before 9:30 p.m. near Berkley Drive and Lancaster Street, according to officer Jonette Williams, an NOPD spokeswoman.
Investigators say two officers attempted to stop the boy and a friend while on patrol, because Matthews appeared to be carrying a suspicious object. Matthews ran from one officer, who gave chase, she said. The officer said he shot Matthews after the boy pointed a long rifle at him, Williams said. Matthews died at the scene.
Police recovered a .22-caliber rifle with a 30-round magazine, NOPD Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo said at the scene.
The officer, who has not been identified by police, has been placed on administrative reassignment pending the standard investigation of the shooting by the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau. NOPD Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo said initial information suggests the officer's response to the situation was appropriate.
However, Matthews' family said he would have never pointed a weapon at a police officer, and they and residents living near the scene of the shooting question whether the shooting was justified.
Ruby Carter said her grandson was a good boy whose only problem was breaking the city's curfew. Carter said the teenager, who lived with her on Boyd Street a few blocks from the shooting, was on his way home from the Lower Coast Algiers Community Center, where he spent most evenings. She said she does not know exactly what happened on the dark street, but she knows her grandson would never threaten a police officer.
Ruby Carter admis that she doesnt know exactly what happened on the dark street where her 15-year-old grandson was shot and killed by police, but she knows her grandson would never threaten a police officer."They are lying, they are really lying on that," Carter said. "They really didn't have to kill him."
Agnus Conner said her son Jaret Conner, 16, was walking with Matthews shortly before the shooting. Her son told her Matthews picked up the rifle from some bushes while they were walking home, and shortly after that a police car pulled behind them shining a searchlight. Matthews immediately began running, while Conner stayed where he was, the boy's mother said.
She said one police officer left the vehicle and began chasing Matthews, while the other officer told her son to go home and then began to follow slowly in his vehicle. Suddenly, two to three shots rang out, and the officer in the vehicle quickly came back to her son, made him lie on the ground and handcuffed him.
When Conner's son saw Matthews, she said, he was alive and handcuffed, and the rifle was a few feet from him. She said her son did not see the shooting but is still shaken up by his friend's death.
"I really think he's going to need counseling, " Conner said.
Thomas Henry IV, who lives near the shooting, said he and several neighbors saw police pick Matthews up from a yard, taunt him about the shooting and then place him in the back of a police car. He said officers later threw the boy on the ground around the corner from where the shooting occurred.
Corneata Richardson said the neighborhood is fairly quiet and that Matthews and his friends are well-known in the area. Henry said police are not telling the whole story about the shooting, and he feels neighbors should speak up.
"That ain't right, I would want somebody to speak up for my child or me," Henry said.
Carter said that while her grandson was not involved in violence, he was not a stranger to it. A month ago, one of his friends, Joseph Veal, 19, was shot and killed on Mansfield Street, and Matthews was with the teen right before the shooting occurred. She said he ran from the gunmen and was able to escape.
There were rumors that Matthews might have had the weapon for protection, but Carter said she did not know anything about that. She said she regularly searched the boy's room and her entire house, and she would have known if he was hiding a gun or drugs there.
Carter's family is shaken by the boy's death. Carter said she did not sleep as she thought about how his life was snatched from him so early.
"He was on his way to come home, and he never had a chance to come home, " she said.
Matthews, a student at Booker T. Washington High School, enjoyed video games and basketball, his grandmother said. He also ran track at the community center.
When he was 11, Matthews was mentioned in a Time magazine story the week after Hurricane Katrina struck. The story described how Matthews, whose family had been trapped in an apartment building by the floodwaters, was excited about his first helicopter ride, "joyfully sporting the helmet that crew chief Cpl. Jessica Buckley, 25, had given him to wear."
The story quoted his mother, Trinise Henry, saying that the family's food and bottled water had almost run out by the time they were rescued.
On Thursday, Henry was hesitant to talk about her son. But before she burst into tears and ran to a back bedroom, she begged police to stop shooting children such as Matthews.
"They ought to stop, " Henry yelled out. "Them policemen need to stop killing our children."
Dawonne Matthews was killed shortly before 9:30 p.m. near Berkley Drive and Lancaster Street, according to officer Jonette Williams, an NOPD spokeswoman.
Investigators say two officers attempted to stop the boy and a friend while on patrol, because Matthews appeared to be carrying a suspicious object. Matthews ran from one officer, who gave chase, she said. The officer said he shot Matthews after the boy pointed a long rifle at him, Williams said. Matthews died at the scene.
Police recovered a .22-caliber rifle with a 30-round magazine, NOPD Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo said at the scene.
The officer, who has not been identified by police, has been placed on administrative reassignment pending the standard investigation of the shooting by the NOPD's Public Integrity Bureau. NOPD Assistant Superintendent Marlon Defillo said initial information suggests the officer's response to the situation was appropriate.
However, Matthews' family said he would have never pointed a weapon at a police officer, and they and residents living near the scene of the shooting question whether the shooting was justified.
Ruby Carter said her grandson was a good boy whose only problem was breaking the city's curfew. Carter said the teenager, who lived with her on Boyd Street a few blocks from the shooting, was on his way home from the Lower Coast Algiers Community Center, where he spent most evenings. She said she does not know exactly what happened on the dark street, but she knows her grandson would never threaten a police officer.
Ruby Carter admis that she doesnt know exactly what happened on the dark street where her 15-year-old grandson was shot and killed by police, but she knows her grandson would never threaten a police officer."They are lying, they are really lying on that," Carter said. "They really didn't have to kill him."
Agnus Conner said her son Jaret Conner, 16, was walking with Matthews shortly before the shooting. Her son told her Matthews picked up the rifle from some bushes while they were walking home, and shortly after that a police car pulled behind them shining a searchlight. Matthews immediately began running, while Conner stayed where he was, the boy's mother said.
She said one police officer left the vehicle and began chasing Matthews, while the other officer told her son to go home and then began to follow slowly in his vehicle. Suddenly, two to three shots rang out, and the officer in the vehicle quickly came back to her son, made him lie on the ground and handcuffed him.
When Conner's son saw Matthews, she said, he was alive and handcuffed, and the rifle was a few feet from him. She said her son did not see the shooting but is still shaken up by his friend's death.
"I really think he's going to need counseling, " Conner said.
Thomas Henry IV, who lives near the shooting, said he and several neighbors saw police pick Matthews up from a yard, taunt him about the shooting and then place him in the back of a police car. He said officers later threw the boy on the ground around the corner from where the shooting occurred.
Corneata Richardson said the neighborhood is fairly quiet and that Matthews and his friends are well-known in the area. Henry said police are not telling the whole story about the shooting, and he feels neighbors should speak up.
"That ain't right, I would want somebody to speak up for my child or me," Henry said.
Carter said that while her grandson was not involved in violence, he was not a stranger to it. A month ago, one of his friends, Joseph Veal, 19, was shot and killed on Mansfield Street, and Matthews was with the teen right before the shooting occurred. She said he ran from the gunmen and was able to escape.
There were rumors that Matthews might have had the weapon for protection, but Carter said she did not know anything about that. She said she regularly searched the boy's room and her entire house, and she would have known if he was hiding a gun or drugs there.
Carter's family is shaken by the boy's death. Carter said she did not sleep as she thought about how his life was snatched from him so early.
"He was on his way to come home, and he never had a chance to come home, " she said.
Matthews, a student at Booker T. Washington High School, enjoyed video games and basketball, his grandmother said. He also ran track at the community center.
When he was 11, Matthews was mentioned in a Time magazine story the week after Hurricane Katrina struck. The story described how Matthews, whose family had been trapped in an apartment building by the floodwaters, was excited about his first helicopter ride, "joyfully sporting the helmet that crew chief Cpl. Jessica Buckley, 25, had given him to wear."
The story quoted his mother, Trinise Henry, saying that the family's food and bottled water had almost run out by the time they were rescued.
On Thursday, Henry was hesitant to talk about her son. But before she burst into tears and ran to a back bedroom, she begged police to stop shooting children such as Matthews.
"They ought to stop, " Henry yelled out. "Them policemen need to stop killing our children."
A 15 year old with an assault rifle - 30 round clip.
Where do 15 year olds get weapons like these and how do their parents not know that they have them?