Tyree King: 13-Year-Old Ohio Boy With BB Gun Shot And Killed By Police [Video]


The name Tyree King is already trending on Twitter early in the morning on Thursday, September 15. As noted in the below video, King was shot and killed by police in Columbus, Ohio, after Tyree was accused of being a robbery assailant — with cops chasing Tyree into an alley and shooting King from three to five times before discovering King held a BB gun.

The name of the police officer who killed Tyree has not been released, nor have the names of those suspects who accompanied King.

According to NBC-affiliate WCMH-TV Columbus, King has been identified as the 13-year-old who was shot and killed.

The fact that Tyree was only 13 years of age is resonating with people online who read King’s story. The WCMH article has been shared nearly 500 times on Facebook.

The shooting and killing of Tyree is an archetypal situation displayed in the new video “Warzone” by T.I., as the rapper imagines what life would be like if young boys like King or Tamir Rice — who was shot and killed by Cleveland police — were of a different race, waving a BB gun around.

Ironically, news of Tyree’s shooting and killing by police comes at the same time that news of 12-year-old Tamir’s makeshift memorial at the gazebo where Rice was shot and killed being relocated to Chicago’s Stony Island Arts Bank has brought online buzz. As seen in the below photo, “Young Black King” has been painted on the memorial.

[Image by Mark Gillispie/AP Images]

Tyree’s death came after reports of a robbery in Columbus, along with a neighbor who heard from three to five gunshots in the killing of Tyree. King was accused of pointing a handgun at police. Tyree was the same boy suspected in a robbery earlier in the evening. Instead of a Tyree having a handgun, it was a BB gun that King held.

Police say they found three people who matched the description of the robbery suspects, with King being one of the three. The BB gun that Tyree allegedly held had a laser scope. Tyree was chased into an alley and was shot by a nine-year veteran of the police force.

The police officer will be allowed to take time off from the “traumatic experience” of shooting and killing Tyree. The Columbus Police force is already under fire for the shooting of Henry Green. Police were criticized in Green’s shooting death, notes the Columbus Dispatch, because the plainclothes Columbus police officers involved in Henry’s shooting death may not have properly let themselves be known as police to Green — and police have taken heat for releasing few details about Henry’s death.

[Image by Jose Luis Magana/AP Images]

Now the death of Tyree has already lit up social media, as details of the death of King are released online.

The melee began on Wednesday evening in Columbus, at approximately 7:45 p.m. local time.

Tyree was apparently close to the corner of South 18th Street and East Capital Street, the location where the robbery victim told cops that he had been approached for money. One member of the group displayed a gun and asked for cash. King was one of the three men whom police say matched the description of the robbery suspects.

When officers tried to speak to Tyree and others at 33 Hoffman Street, two of them fled.

Cops chased Tyree in pursuit into an alley behind 27 Hoffman Street.

Tyree allegedly pulled out a gun — and that’s when cops say King was shot and killed. After being taken to Children’s Hospital, King was pronounced dead at approximately 8:30 p. m.

King’s BB gun with a laser site was recovered.

As a result of the shooting death of Tyree, King’s name is already trending on several social media platforms. Facebook reports more than 64,000 people talking about “Tyree King,” with “Tyree King Ohio” getting more than 13,900 searches on Facebook.

According to Chris Naderer, a man who lives in the area near where Tyree was shot and killed, Chris believes he saw King running through his backyard.

“We heard some people running through our backyard and kind of a loud boom where our gate is busted. We assume that they busted the gate down. Heard gun shots 5, 10 seconds afterwards.”

On Twitter, the name #TyreeKing has already gotten approximately 2,000 tweets using the King hashtag, with plenty of debate over the shooting and killing of Tyree.

In the top photo above police work the scene of Tyree’s shooting. King allegedly pulled the BB gun from his waistband.

[Featured Image by WSYX via AP Images]

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