Omari Grant, 11, of Henry County, Ga., (pictured) said that he was terrified after a police officer pulled a gun on him while he and his friends were building a tree fort in their neighborhood, WSB-TV 2 reports.
Grant, a 5th grade student, says he and his friends often play in the wooded area behind his home, but a neighbor in his subdivision called the cops to complain about their activities. What exactly happened that lead up to the cop allegedly pulling the gun on the boy is not clear, but Grant said he followed the cop’s orders.
“I was thinking that I don’t want to be shot today, so I just listened to what they said,” Grant recalled.
Janice Baptiste, the boy’s mother, filed an excessive force complaint with the department. “So my son was of course traumatized by that,” she said.
A WSB-TV reporter spoke to Edgar Dillard, whose wife, according to 911 records, called the cops to complain about the boys “chopping off tree limbs.” Dillard said he was shocked that a gun was pulled on the child to deal with what he believed as a safety issue.
“There were falling hazards, tripping hazards, all types of hazards, so No. 1 was concern for the children and concern for the environment,” Dillard said.
No arrests were made, but the department is now investigating the officer’s actions.
“If it was justified then we’ll deal with it, if it wasn’t we’ll address it as well,” said Sgt. Joey Smith with the Henry County Police Department.
Grant said maybe he and his friends should not have been in the trees that day, but was still shocked that he needed a gun pointed at him to learn his lesson.
Source-Newsone
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