Police Shoot 13-Year-Old Carrying 'Dead Ringer' of Gun

BALTIMORE, MD — A 13-year-old boy carrying a BB gun that was a replica of a semi-automatic pistol was shot by a Baltimore City Police detective Wednesday afternoon -- the one-year anniversary of the start of riots in the city following the death of Freddie Gray.

Wednesday afternoon two plainclothes detectives on patrol saw a teenager on Aisquith Street with what looked like a firearm in his hand. When they talked to the youth, he ran and the two officers chased him, said Police Chief Kevin Davis. The fleeing youth wouldn't stop when ordered to by police, and one of the detectives fired his weapon.

The shooting victim will survive his injuries, the chief said.

“Those police officers had no way of knowing it was not an actual firearm. It looks like a firearm,” Davis told reporters.

The boy’s mother told police he left the house with what she described as a BB gun in his hand.

Davis described the BB gun as a "dead ringer" for a working Baretta handgun.

The chief said officers must confront people with weapons, and the boy didn't stop and drop his weapon.

Six Baltimore Police officers are charged in connection with the death of Gray, the 25-year-old Baltimore man arrested April 12, 2015, who died a week later from an injury prosecutors say he got in a police van.

SEE ALSO:

• Police Identify Six Officers Charged in Freddie Gray's Death
• State's Attorney: How 6 Officers Contributed to Death of Freddie Gray
• Bel Air Officer Charged in Freddie Gray Case Challenges Claims

Davis said police are on the streets targeting suspects with illegal weapons, and arrests are up as police try to stem the city's wave of gun violence.

“We can’t allow someone to walk down the street in broad daylight anywhere in Baltimore with what looks like a semi-automatic handgun,” Davis said.

»Baltimore Police Chief Kevin Davis talks to reporters, image from Periscope. Photo of gun recovered from the scene, courtesy of Baltimore Police.