Calls are growing for an officer to be fired and charged after an 11-year-old in Mississippi who called 911 for help was shot by police.
Aderrien Murry was seriously wounded early Saturday by an Indianola police officer responding to a domestic call at the home of the child's mother, according to Carlos Moore, an attorney for the family.
“This should not have happened,” Moore said. The main question Aderrien "has been asking is, 'Why did this happen to me?' The child suffered a collapsed lung, lacerated liver and fractured ribs. … He’s blessed to have survived but he’s still in pain emotionally and mentally,” he said.
On Thursday, a group of protesters called for accountability in the shooting of the child during a rally at Indianola City Hall.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said it is investigating the shooting that happened at 6 a.m. Saturday at the home on BB King Road.
“No officers were injured during the incident. A minor occupant of the residence received significant injuries and has been transported to a local hospital,” it said.
“MBI is currently assessing this critical incident and gathering evidence. Upon completing the investigation, agents will share their findings with the Attorney General’s Office,” the agency said.
It did not provide additional details. The Indianola Police Department referred questions about the incident to the city attorney, who did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The officer who opened fire was not identified by the agency or the police department.
But Indianola Alderman Marvin Elder said that officer Greg Capers had been placed on paid administrative leave after a unanimous Indianola Council vote.
Capers could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The attorney for the child's family said he was working to obtain body camera video of the shooting.
Moore said the child was shot after calling for help for his mother. He said that during a confrontation with the father of one of her children, Nakala Murry handed her phone to the 11-year-old and told him to call police and his grandmother.
When police arrived, they were told the man was unarmed and had run out a back door and that three children were home, Moore said.
Police ordered everyone in the house to show themselves with their hands up, he said. When the 11-year-old came out of a bedroom with his hands up, he was met by gunfire, the attorney said.
“He shot him immediately when his hands were up, and he’s coming around the corner,” Moore said.
He said that the officer should be fired and charged with aggravated assault.
“I didn’t ask for a suspension with pay. I asked and demanded termination. Did I stutter?” Moore said at a City Hall news conference Thursday. “When I say termination, I mean termination. You don’t give someone a paid vacation who committed such a reckless act.”
He said he expects the family to file a federal civil rights lawsuit.
"We need to hold our law enforcement officers to a higher standard and ensure that they are trained to de-escalate situations and use non-lethal methods whenever possible," Moore said in a statement Thursday.
Indianola, which had about 9,100 residents last year, is about 100 miles north of Jackson.
