FBI to probe deputy shooting of boy with fake assault rifle – latimes.com.
The FBI will conduct an independent probe into the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy carrying a replica assault rifle by a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy, officials said Friday.
Andy Lopez was shot seven times on a Santa Rosa sidewalk Tuesday by a deputy who said he thought the boy’s fake weapon was a real AK-47 assault rifle.
“The Sheriff will cooperate fully with the FBI and welcomes their participation,” Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas said in an email statement, according to NBC Bay Area.
Andy was shot seven times, according to a preliminary coroner’s report. Two of the rounds that struck him were fatal. One hit his right hip and the other struck the right side of his chest, the report by the Sonoma County coroner’s office found.
Other bullets hit Andy’s right wrist, left biceps, right forearm, right buttocks and right hip, the report said. Three of the bullets were recovered in his body.
Investigators believe a total of eight rounds were fired after deputies responded Tuesday afternoon to a report of a “suspicious person” in a southwest Santa Rosa neighborhood, law enforcement authorities said.
“The deputy’s mindset was that he was fearful that he was going to be shot,” Santa Rosa Police Lt. Paul Henry told reporters.
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