Teen Is Shot After Pulling Replica Gun On Former Officer

BALTIMORE (WJZ) --  Baltimore Police say a suspect pulled a replica gun on a 73-year-old former police officer, and that former officer took matters into his own hands by shooting the suspect, a 13-year-old boy, in the head.

Now police say it was a replica gun the teen pulled on the 73-year-old.

Baltimore police say it was a group of young people who approached that 73-year-old. But the teens had no idea that man was carrying his own gun.

Baltimore Police tell WJZ a 73-year-old was sitting in his car, when a group of young men approached. They opened the car door and the suspect, just 13-years-old, pulled this replica gun on the victim. But the elderly man had his own weapon and shot the teenage suspect in the head.

"It was no way he could have told at that instant that the gun the young man was carrying was not real," says Det. Donny Moses, with Baltimore Police.

Police believe this was an attempted car jacking. As investigators processed the scene, WJZ learned the elderly male is a former Baltimore Officer who resigned from the force in 1974. Police say he had a permit to carry that gun.

Baltimore Police say this encounter happened a little bit before 4 p.m. and it's not uncommon for people to sit down in this park and relax.

Near the park, along Washington Boulevard, one woman said that man had a right to protect himself.

"I never heard of nothing else going over here like that," says Stephanie Spratley, from Baltimore.
"Surprises you to hear that?" WJZ reporter Ava-joye Brunett asks her.
"Yeah! Well no, not these days, everything happening these days, so not these days," Spratley says.

Baltimore Police say by the time they showed up, the rest of the young men who were with the 13-year-old had disappeared.

"It's a very brazen act, and unfortunately, in this case, the young man was shot as a result of this brazen act," says Detective Moses.

The 13-year-old is in Critical Condition at shock trauma. Police are not identifying the 73-year-old. And they say he remained on the scene after the shooting. Police tell us, he's not facing any charges.

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