Police shoot Baltimore teen with replica semi-automatic pistol

City police shot and injured a 13-year old Baltimore boy Wednesday as he fled carrying a semi-automatic pistol, FoxBaltimore reported.

The teenager was approached by the officers on Baltimore Street, east of the Inner Harbor area, around 4 p.m. after they noticed him carrying what appeared to be a semi-automatic firearm, law enforcement officers told the station. 

The boy then fled “a good 150 yards and had every opportunity to drop the gun,” Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said. The officers then fired at the teen, who was later being treated at a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries. 

The boy’s mother was being questioned by authorities following the incident. “I know that the mom knew” that the boy went out with the replica firearm, Davis said.

“I don’t know why that young man chose to flee,” he added.

Davis told the Baltimore Sun he had “no reason to believe” the officers acted inappropriately, adding that they had no idea whether the gun was real or a replica.

An event featuring Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, marking the one-year anniversary of the Freddie Gray riots, was taking place across town at the time of the incident.

“Police officers don’t take days off,” Davis told the Sun, regarding the coincidental timing.

The boy and his mother were not immediately identified.