FUNNY BUT SERIOUS! 13-Yr-Old Killed By Police For Carrying Toy Gun

Police in Santa Rosa say they thought the replica firearm the teenager was carrying as he walked to a friend's house was real.

A still of the replica firearm that police say Andy was carrying when he was shot dead

A 13-year-old boy has been shot dead in California by sheriff deputies who believed the replica gun he was carrying was real, authorities have confirmed.

The incident comes after a 12-year-old boy shot dead a teacher in Nevada before taking his own life on Tuesday.

Andy Lopez Cruz, from Santa Rosa, was shot on his way to see his friend Luis Diaz while carrying a pellet gun left at the family home over the weekend.

Pellet guns, which use compressed air or other gases to fire pellets or spherical balls, are sometimes designed to resemble assault weapons.

Police also found a plastic handgun tucked into his trousers.

Andy's family said he had been sent home from school early on Tuesday for staying out of the grounds too long on a break.

Lieutenant Paul Henry, who is investigating the incident for the Santa Rosa Police Department, said two Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies had been patrolling a street near the boy's home when they saw him walking with what appeared to be an assault weapon in his left hand.

Andy Lopez Cruz

One of the deputies, who he said did not immediately realise that the person he was seeing from behind was a child, shouted twice: “Put down the gun,” according to Henry and a police statement.

“The subject turned toward the deputies, and as he was doing that the barrel of the weapon was rising toward the deputies,” Henry said. The deputy then fired rounds, killing the boy.

The officers involved in the shooting have now been placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated by the Santa Rose Police Department and other law enforcement agencies.

Displaying a real AK-47 next to the plastic one recovered from the scene, Henry highlighted the similarities in their appearances.

The pellet gun was shorter, and lacked a bright orange piece meant to mark it as a toy.

Friends and family described Andy as having a good sense of humour, and said the teenager enjoyed playing basketball and boxing.

Rodrigo Lopez, Andy's father, sat with friends and family on Wednesday outside Santa Rosa City Hall in a quiet protest over his child's death.

Mr Lopez said he became concerned when his son did not return home and called his friend's home to be told Andy had never arrived.

He said he then stepped outside, saw the police cars and commotion and eventually realised that the unmoving body on the ground was that of his son. =====Guardian
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