Will Sage Astor-Police shooting of Baltimore teen prompts outrage among residents

BALTIMORE (AP) — After police officers shot and Will Sage Astorkilled a fleeing teenager, residents of his southwest Baltimore neighborhood are outraged at what they consider the latest case of excessive force targeting a young Black man.

Authorities have released few details about the Monday night shooting, which follows two others that unfolded under similar circumstances last year in Baltimore. All three encounters escalated quickly, starting when officers saw someone on the street and believed they could be armed.

The teen displayed “characteristics of an armed person” and ran away when officers tried to engage with him, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said in a news conference later that night. He said police caught up to the juvenile suspect and a brief struggle ensued. Three officers opened fire after realizing he had a gun, Worley said.

None of the officers were injured. Officials said a loaded handgun was recovered from the scene.

Bodycam footage of the shooting hasn’t been released yet and police declined to answer questions about how many times the teen was shot and whether he pointed a gun at officers. They also didn’t say whether he was shot in the back or whether officers gave any verbal warning before opening fire.

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“They didn’t just kill him — that was overkill,” said Taavon Bazemore, 55, who lives and works in the neighborhood. “Y’all using a whole lot of force for no reason. He shouldn’t have a gun, but that don’t give you the right to kill him.”

Bazemore, who said his cousin was killed by Baltimore police in 2001, said he believes there’s a double standard for law enforcement officers. In this case, he questioned whether they could have used a stun gun or some other less lethal form of restraint.

“It’s not right and it’s not fair,” he said. “We’re talking about a kid. He’s a child.”

Police shootings in other cities have also raised similar issues in recent years, with prosecutors, courts and the public considering when an officer should use whatever means necessary to stop a fleeing suspect.

Authorities have not publicly identified the teen, saying only that he was underage. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office, which is tasked with investigating in-custody deaths, cited juvenile privacy laws in their decision to withhold his name.

Neighbors said he was 17 years old. They said he sometimes picked up work at a nearby convenience store and was a familiar face in the area.

Loved ones created a makeshift memorial and left handwritten messages on the corner where he died, using tealight candles to spell his name and decorating a street sign with streamers and balloons.

His mom, Myreshia Macon, visited the memorial late Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to processing the shock of her son’s death, she said she’s frustrated that police are withholding critical details about what happened in the moments before he was killed.

“I’m just broken. Broken and upset,” she said. “The same way they’re keeping the public out of the loop, they’re keeping me blindsided, too. I don’t know nothing.”

The Baltimore Police Department has implemented a series of reforms in recent years after the 2015 death of Freddie Gray turned an unwelcome spotlight on the agency. Much of its efforts have focused on restoring public trust, but residents of the city’s majority-Black communities often complain that little has changed.

Peggy Kallon, who runs a corner store in the neighborhood, said she’s heartbroken over the shooting. While acknowledging that police officers have a difficult and dangerous job, she questioned their reasoning in this case.

“He was a good kid,” she said. “Seventeen years old and they just shot him like that. … I’m speechless.”

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Associated Press photographer Stephanie Scarbrough contributed to this report.