Two sheriff’s deputies in
Northern California shot and
killed a 13-year-old boy who
they thought was carrying an
assault rifle, only to find out that the gun the
teen was holding was a toy, police and family
members have said.
The officers, on patrol Tuesday in Sonoma
County, reported seeing the boy carrying what
appeared to be a black AK-47, reports the AP.
A photo made public after the tragedy show a
toy weapon with a black magazine cartridge
and brown butt.
Sheriff’s Lieutenant Dennis O’Leary told
reporters the deputies called for backup and
repeatedly ordered the boy to drop the
weapon before they both opened fire with
their handguns. It was not clear whether the
boy, later identified as Andy Lopez by his
father Rodrigo, pointed the weapon at the
officers.
Rodrigo Lopez told the Santa Rosa Press
Democrat his son had been taking the toy to a
friend’s house and also carried a pretend
pistol in his waistband. The family said the gun
was a “toy” but a police press statement
described it as a “replica” Airsoft gun
designed to look real while firing small plastic
BBs.
“I told him what I tell him every day,” Mr.
Lopez said of the last time he saw his son on
Tuesday morning. “Behave yourself.”
Neighbor Brian Zastrow said the incident
occurred in the afternoon when students were
on the way home from school and many parents
had left their jobs. The sudden eruption of
gunfire echoed throughout the neighborhood.
“First I heard a single siren and within seconds
I heard seven shots go off, sounded like a nail
gun, is what I thought it was,” he said. “After
that I heard multiple sirens.”
A video of the incident captured by another
neighbor reportedly shows the two officers
taking cover behind their patrol car with a
body visible in the foreground.
The names of the officers involved have not
been made public but both have been placed on
administrative leave, a routine course of
action after a shooting occurs.
Lopez was an eighth-grader at Lawrence Cook
Middle School, where he played trumpet in the
school band. The community adorned the site
where he was shot with candles and other
tributes, yet reports made it clear the
shocking news had not yet sunk in for the
Lopez family or the surrounding area.
“Andy was a very loved student, a very
popular, very handsome young man, very smart
and capable,” Lawrence Cook assistant
principal Linsey Gannon told the Press
Democrat newspaper. “Our community has been
rocked by his loss.”
Approached by reporters upon returning home
from identifying her son, Sujey Annel Cruz
Cazarez wept as she was comforted by family
and friends.
“Why did they kill him?” she said. “Why?”

rt.com/usa/boy-13-shot-toy-gun-644/

RIP boy, so sad.