News / Society

18 year-old shot dead at Virginia Wal-Mart

Thursday, 23 April 2015 12:45 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 23 April 2015 12:48 AM ]

Policeman kills teenager in Wal-Mart parking lot in Virginia.

Authorities in the US state of Virginia have confirmed that an 18-year-old boy has been killed by a policeman in the vicinity of a Wal-Mart shopping store.

The shooting took place in the early hours of Wednesday, minutes after the Wal-Mart security called the police to report a suspected shoplifting incident.

The boy was in the parking lot when he was first approached by the policeman.

According to Sgt. Michelle Anaya with Virginia State Police, the identity of the boy has not been released yet because the family has not been informed about the death.

“It looked like at one time he had a handcuff on him, like his left hand was behind him,” said Paul Akee, a construction worker who witnessed the incident.

The Wal-Mart ended up closing shortly after the shooting of the teenager without issuing any formal statement.

Detective Misty Holley, from the city of Portsmouth where the incident took place, said, “The Virginia State Police have the resources readily available to handle the entire investigation from start to finish to include the processing of the crime scene."

"By asking the Virginia State Police to investigate this case we are ensuring that an independent and unbiased conclusion is made at the end of this investigation," Holley added.

Apparently, this is the second shooting incident to happen in Portsmouth, in less than a month.

On March 25, white police officers shot and killed a black man, who according to the police “was involved in drug activity.”

The killing of several unarmed black men by white police officers in recent months and decisions by grand juries not to indict the officers triggered large-scale protests across the US.

There is also widespread racial disparity in the US criminal justice system. According to a study by the Sentencing Project research group, one in three black males are likely to be sentenced to prison sometime during their life. The figure for white men is one in 17.

HDS/GJH

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