Long Island Officer Shoots Unarmed Black Student, 16, With Taser Gun [Video]

Disturbing imagery of a Long Island police officer shooting a 16-year-old student with a taser has gone viral after first hitting the internet late Wednesday.

The Daily Mail is noting that the footage, which was taken by a fellow attendant of Walter G O’Connell Copiague High School in Suffolk County, features a young African-American man trying to run away from a police officer after he was allegedly witnessed smoking marijuana on school grounds.

Cell phone video shows officer firing Taser at teen outside Long Island high school, police confirm https://t.co/C1jvLd2UQn pic.twitter.com/hZDQfelOcH

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) March 2, 2017

Following the start of a mostly-unseen confrontation, the video displays the young man attempting to back away from the cop, which leads to the law enforcement worker making a grab at the boy’s shirt to restrain him. The attempt proves unsuccessful as the 16-year-old manages to pull himself free from the cop’s grasp by allowing the officer to effectively remove his shirt for him and in tandem, his body from the policeman’s physical seizure.

“A few seconds later,” NBC News continues, “the officer pulls out his taser and fires it at the teen, who is standing nearby [the entrance of the school].”

The boy then falls to the floor, yelping in pain and still shirtless, as the jolts from the officer’s taser continue to shoot through his body.

Please be advised that the following visual may be considered disturbing to some readers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXT-Jqhl1YM

Luckily, as the Daily Mail mentions, the impact of hitting the floor didn’t seem to cause much damage to the boy.

“Despite falling chest-first to the concrete,” the publication states, “the teen doesn’t seem to be too injured.”

“However,” they add, “the sound of the taser clicking can continue to be heard as the cop tells him to roll over and submit to being cuffed.”

Incidentally, as he’s being handcuffed, the student can be heard pleading to the taser-shooting officer that he’s done nothing wrong.

“I have no weed,” the teen yells repeatedly.

“I wouldn’t lie to you!”

Following another jump cut, the student was seen on his feet once more with his arms locked behind him and with another officer’s arm gripped around his wrist. The teen was seemingly not allowed to place his shirt back on before being arrested regardless of reported low temperatures that, as Newsday explains, included wind gusts of upwards to 50 mph.

In the midst of the officer and teen’s melee, an unidentified gentleman is heard telling the student shooting the taser incident to put his camera away, but he refuses and retorts, “I know my rights.”

Assistant Deputy Commissioner Justin Meyers of the Suffolk Police told NBC News that the officers relayed that they were on their way to break up the off-site school fight when they first noticed the 16-year-old smoking weed nearby. After flagging him down, the teen scurried off toward the entrance of Copiague High School, where it’s believed he attends night classes, and made his way inside.

“They chased the teen onto the school property, where the unidentified cop tackled him, leading to the events of the video,” the Daily Mail adds.

Once there, the misdemeanor matter became one of a public safety concern as class was still in session. With several students standing near the corridor, the Taser-possessing officer barreled toward the student to expel him out the doorway, before shooting him to properly neutralize any further risk to his peers or the other officers. Meyer concluded that the investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

The teenager was booked and charged with harassment, resisting arrest and criminal possession of marijuana. There was no immediate word on if the Suffolk County officer would be reprimanded for shooting the taser at the unarmed teen.

[Featured Image by tfoxfoto/iStock]