Authorities say 15-year-old ID’d as armed person killed by officer after gunshots heard nearby

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Authorities in Ohio have identified a 15-year-old youth as the person officials said was carrying a loaded weapon when he was shot and killed by an Akron police officer following gunshots in the area on Thanksgiving night.

The Summit County medical examiner’s office on Friday night identified the person shot as 15-year-old Jazmir Tucker of Maple Heights.

Police said in a news release that two patrol officers were in a parked police cruiser in the Sherbondy Hill neighborhood as they worked on a report from an unrelated incident. They heard gunshots nearby just after 11 p.m. Thursday and got out to investigate, police said.

Shortly afterward, the officers encountered the youth with a loaded firearm, police said. One of the officers fired, striking the youth, who was provided first aid and then taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the officer who fired, who has been on the force for nearly five years, and his partner were placed on paid administrative leave per department policy. The Fraternal Order of Police Akron Lodge No. 7 said in a social media post that its members were cooperating with investigators.

Mayor Shammas Malik said in a social media post Friday night that “Every loss of life is a tragedy, and to lose a young life is heartbreaking.” He offered condolences to Tucker’s loved ones and said his thoughts were also with “our Akron police officers and their families.”

Malik said he believed the investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation would provide “a full understanding of the incident.”

“I ask our community to reserve judgment until more facts are shared, knowing that it is a difficult thing to ask in situations like this,” he said. Malik also said the city would release body-worn camera footage within the next week “to provide transparency into this incident.”

The state attorney general’s office will review the results of the bureau’s investigation before submitting the report to a Summit County grand jury for evaluation. Akron police will also do a separate internal investigation and provide the results to the police chief and the city’s police auditor.