Same Conversation Reignited After Another Teen Is Killed By Police

An investigation is underway to understand why Tyree King, a 13-year-old black teenager, was fatally shot by police in Columbus, Ohio. Officers said they were responding to a report of an armed robbery Wednesday night when they encountered a person who was carrying what appeared to be a gun. An officer opened fire, shooting King multiple times. The following morning, police identified the young teenager and clarified that the possible handgun in question turned out to be a BB gun with an attached laser site. 

The press has found King’s death to be eerily similar to that of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old black child with a toy gun who was shot by police in Cleveland, Ohio. Unlike Rice’s case, it appears none of the Columbus officers were wearing body cameras, and so investigators are still searching for any possible video of the shooting. The ongoing conversation on police misconduct and America’s black communities captured much of the spotlight yesterday. The family of Sandra Bland, the black woman who died while in police custody in Waller County, Texas, reached a $1.9 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit.