Police shoot dead 14-year-old on New York street

The two officers had joined the New York Police Department in January. Picture: Giacomo Barbaro

Shaaliver Douse died from a single gunshot to his jaw after the early-morning confrontation in the Bronx.

Two New York Police Department officers were on foot patrol when they heard gunfire at about 3am local time yesterday. They found the boy with a 9mm handgun firing shots at a fleeing man, authorities said.

Police released two surveillance videos that show a person they identified as the boy, wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, fire at a group of men standing outside a bodega and then chasing after one of them. Police said he fired four shots in all.

The officers identified themselves as police and ordered him to drop his weapon, authorities said.

“The officers ordered Douse to drop the gun but instead he fired another round,” NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a news conference. “It is undetermined at this time whether he fired at the officers or a fourth time at the unknown male who had just run past the officers.”

When he pointed his gun in their direction, one of the officers shot him, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two officers had joined the department in January.

The boy’s aunt, Quwana Barcene, told the New York Post he was an only child. “It’s not fair. It was my sister’s only child. You shouldn’t have to bury your child,” she said.

It emerged the teenager had been in trouble with the law before. He was charged in May with attempted murder after a 15-year-old boy was shot in a Bronx neighborhood where he lived. That shooting took place two miles from where he was later killed.

He was also charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing in connection with the incident.

But his prosecution was then deferred, said Steven Reed, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. He said the office had insufficient evidence to proceed and the victim was unable to identify the shooter.