A 15-year-old boy dodging police bullets Sunday evening insisted he did not have a gun when an officer opened fire upon him.
While lying on the ground in handcuffs around 10 p.m., the boy shouted out to The Examiner that he was reaching for a cell phone when the gunfire erupted.
“It was on my hip,” said the teen about his cell phone. He was not hit during the gunfire.
Police held the boy at the scene for about an hour before the youth was hauled away.
“This is not a normal crime scene. The [police] are trying to get their stories straight,” said Marie Davis, a Baltimore City resident who gathered with others at the scene.
On Monday, police were still sorting out the details of the shooting.
“The officer discharged a weapon to incapacitate the suspect. He missed. Come to find out, the young man was not armed,” said Officer Nicole Monroe, a city police spokeswoman.
Prior to the shooting incident, police said the two boys were in a stolen Honda driven by a 16-year-old youth. The boys shouted threats at a city tow-truck driver and demanded that he turn over a dirt bike that was on his truck, police said.
The truck driver called the police when the youths attempted to run him off the road, police said.
Police chased the car on a winding tour through Mount Vernon. The 15-year old then fled on foot on Calvert Street, while the other teen drove the car away and was later apprehended.
While running, the 15-year-old reached for his groin to adjust his cell phone, police said.
Patrol Officer Franklin Adkins fired at the boy at the corner of Lanvale Street and Calvert Street, police said.
“He saw him turn slightly and reach in his groin area, to the police, it appeared he was reaching for a weapon,” Monroe said.
The shooting remains under investigation, Monroe said. The officer remains on active duty while the two youths were charged as juveniles in the incident for various traffic offenses and threatening the truck driver.
lgreenback@baltimoreexaminer.com
