Aderrien Murry, an 11-year-old boy, is recovering after an Indianola Police officer shot him in the chest. The boy had called 911 to report a domestic disturbance involving a sibling’s father in the early hours of Saturday, May 20, before the officer responded, his family told news outlets this week.
In a statement yesterday, the family’s attorney Carlos Moore said the child “was rushed to a nearby hospital” after the shooting and he called “for a full and transparent investigation into the shooting.”
“No child should ever be subjected to such violence at the hands of those who are sworn to protect and serve,” he said. “… We cannot continue to tolerate a system that allows police officers to use deadly force with impunity.” CNN reported that the Indianola Police Department said the officer involved in the shooting was Greg Capers. Moore told the network he had requested body camera footage from the police department but that they had denied access due to “an ongoing investigation.”
The Indianola Board of Alderman voted to place Capers on paid administrative leave on Monday, CNN reported. Capers has not been charged in the boy’s shooting, however, and remains an employee of the Indianola Police Department.
Asked for comment this morning, an employee at the Indianola Police Department told the Mississippi Free Press to “call back at another time.”
In an interview on CNN, the child’s mother, Nakala Murry, said an officer arrived with “his gun drawn at the front door and asked those inside the home to come outside.”
“Once (Aderrien) came from around the corner, he got shot,” the boy’s mother said. “I cannot grasp why. The same cop that told him to come out of the house. He did, and he got shot. He kept asking, ‘Why did he shoot me? What did I do wrong?'” she said.
In his statement, Moore called on lawmakers to “take action to address police reform and accountability.” “We must demand justice for this young boy and his family,” the lawyer said. “We cannot allow another senseless tragedy like this to occur. We must come together as a community to demand change and accountability from our law enforcement officials.”
A 2022 Washington Post investigation found that, despite making up just 13% of the overall U.S. population, Black people account for 27% of those fatally shot and killed by police nationwide.
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