Baltimore chief: Teen's gun "an absolute identical replica"

BALTIMORE -- A 12-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department had just left a community meeting about recent violence when he encountered and shot a 13-year-old boy carrying a replica handgun, police commissioner Kevin Davis said Thursday.

"They identified themselves as police officers to this young man," Davis said, according to CBS Baltimore. "The young man took off on foot with the gun in his hand." Davis said it wasn't clear until after the boy was shot that the gun he was holding was a Daisy brand replica handgun.

"It's an absolute identical replica semi-automatic pistol," Davis said.

The officer who shot the boy and his partner were in plainclothes when they encountered the boy, Davis said. When approached by the officers, the boy allegedly started to run.

A witness said the boy did not drop the fake gun during a foot chase that lasted more than 150 yards.

T.J. Smith, a spokesman for the police department, said the specific gun the boy was carrying can be purchased for as little as $15 online.

"It is not a wise a decision to walk out with a replica gun like that in our city," Smith said.

The teen was shot in the leg in East Baltimore Wednesday afternoon, which was also the one-year anniversary of the civil unrest that exploded across Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man whose neck was broken in the back of a police transport van.

Police say the boy is being treated at a hospital and is expected to survive.

The boy's mother told The Baltimore Sun that she has no idea how her son, who is in 8th grade, got the weapon.

She also complained about being handcuffed and taken from the scene for questioning when she wanted to go to the hospital with her son. Davis said the woman was was restrained during "an emotional moment."

"She gave us a statement. She was not charged with a crime," Davis said.