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Investigation Into Fatal Police Shooting of 13-Year-Old Continues

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The Latest on the fatal police shooting of a 13-year-old boy in Ohio:

12:10 p.m.

A police union leader says the Ohio officer who fatally shot a 13-year-old boy while investigating a reported armed robbery is a well-respected policeman who did what he had to do in that circumstance.

Columbus police say Officer Bryan Mason repeatedly shot Tyre King on Wednesday night after the teen ran from investigators and pulled out a BB gun that looked like a real firearm.

Jason Pappas, the president of the police union representing Mason, said Friday it’s a situation no officer wants to encounter.

The case started with a 911 call about the robbery. Police say officers followed potential suspects into an alley, and Tyre pulled a weapon from his waistband and was shot.

Mason is on administrative leave as the shooting is investigated.

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11:10 a.m.

A friend of the 13-year-old Ohio boy who was fatally shot by a policeman investigating a reported armed robbery says the boy had a BB gun that looked like a real firearm and ran from police.

Tyre King was shot Wednesday night after witnesses reported a group of people had robbed a man of $10.

Nineteen-year-old Demetrius Braxton tells The Columbus Dispatch he had run away with Tyre and was with him when the shooting occurred. Braxton says police told them to get down. He says they did, but then Tyre got up and ran and was shot.

Braxton was interviewed by police but not charged.

A spokesman for Columbus police says they won’t comment on how Braxton’s comments compare with the officers’ accounts of what happened.

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10:15 a.m.

A coroner isn’t immediately releasing autopsy details for a 13-year-old Ohio boy who police say was shot by an officer after pulling a real-looking BB gun from his waistband.

The coroner in Columbus said Friday that Tyre King’s autopsy was done but she isn’t yet sharing details, including where he was struck. She says the official manner of death is pending.

The case started with a 911 call about an armed robbery Wednesday night. Police say officers saw three males matching the suspects’ descriptions and tried to speak with them, when two of them ran off. The officers followed them into an alley. Police say Tyre pulled a gun from his waistband, and an officer shot him several times.

He died at a hospital. No one else was hurt.

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12:20 a.m.

The fatal police shooting of a 13-year-old Columbus boy who officers said pulled a BB gun from his waistband that looked like a real weapon will be investigated thoroughly to determine if charges are warranted.

Evidence from Wednesday’s shooting will automatically be presented to a grand jury.

Police say Tyre King died at a children’s hospital shortly after the shooting, which started with a 911 call about an armed robbery.

Police say the officers saw three males matching the descriptions of the suspects and tried to speak with them, when two of them ran off. The officers followed them into an alley when police say a suspect, later identified as Tyre, pulled a gun from his waistband, and an officer shot him several times.