The man who fatally shot 13-year-old Karon Blake early Saturday, in a case that has outraged some in the community, is a Washington, D.C. employee, the mayor said Wednesday.
Metropolitan Police have said the shooter killed Blake, a middle school student, shortly before 4 a.m. after the shooter believed someone was tampering with vehicles and left his home with a registered firearm to investigate.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday that the person who shot Karon is a district government employee who is not involved in public safety.
Bowser did not identify the agency, but she said the person is on administrative leave, which is standard whenever a city employee is accused or criminally charged.
“It’s a horrible situation,” Bowser said. “We have a 13-year-old that died, and we don’t have all of the facts. And the people who are responsible for gathering the facts and making charging decisions are doing it just as fast as possible.”
The person who fatally shot Karon has not been identified or charged.
Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said Tuesday that the case is under active investigation, and that police are working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for possible charges. He said it would go to a grand jury.
Police have said after the man went out of the residence to investigate possible vehicle tampering, “there was an interaction between a juvenile male and the male resident” and the man fired the weapon, striking Karon.
At a community meeting Tuesday, members of the child’s family said they want justice, and other residents called for the man who shot Karon to be apprehended.
Contee on Tuesday tried to dispel what he said was misinformation circulating online, especially online posts with images of uninvolved and innocent people.
“People are making allegations centered around race — and that is wrong,” Contee said.
Karon is Black. The man who shot him is a Black adult male who has a concealed-carry license and registered firearm, Contee said. He is not current or former law enforcement, the police chief said.
The man who shot Karon called 911 and was performing CPR when officers arrived on the scene, Contee said.
Contee said Tuesday that in order for a shooting to be justified a person has to be in fear for their life or the life of another.
“Those are the facts that we have to sift through to figure out, hey, did that happen? And based upon the information that we have, present that information to a grand jury to see if that is reasonable,” he said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
