Off-duty cop shoots boy, 14, in the head after seeing him outside his house, sheriff says victim 'shouldn't have been out'
A 14-year-old boy is fighting for his life after being shot in the head by an off-duty police officer outside his home in Metairie, Louisiana. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto asserted it was something that should have never happened, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown.
Lopinto stressed that there's no reason a group of teenagers should be roaming the streets with a stay-at-home order already in place, WWL-TV reports.
“Good, bad or indifferent, no matter what, we had several juveniles that were out at 3:00 in the morning when they shouldn’t have been out,” said Lopinto.
The juveniles were at the intersection of West Metairie and Grammar avenues early Friday morning when a homeowner woke up to noises from outside. According to Lopinto, he is an active officer with a law enforcement agency but does not work for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“He was not in uniform, was woken up with no shirt on,” said Lopinto.
After emerging from his home, the off-duty officer saw those juveniles and reportedly shot at them. As a result, one of the juveniles, a 14-year-old boy, was shot once in the head before being rushed to University Medical Center in New Orleans.
"We understand that the [victim] is still at the university hospital in critical condition," Lopinto explained. "The other juveniles fled the scene at that time. However, we have been able to identify and speak to some of them."
According to the sheriff, the scene could have been avoided.
“It’s never a good call when you get a call that your child has been shot,” he continued. “All that can be prevented if we keep our children home, especially at that time of night."
A neighbor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told WWL-TV he heard what sounded like yelling before a shot was fired.
"The homeowner has been cooperative," Sheriff Lopinto revealed. "He relinquished his weapon as soon as deputies arrived at the scene and has given a statement to our detectives already. I want to be clear that he was not acting as a police officer in this matter."
The sheriff said the homeowner is being treated both as a suspect and a victim at this point. However, he did not say if anyone had been arrested in connection with the incident.
"In any of these situations that occur, statements are extremely important in terms of what had occurred and what went on between the individuals," Lopinto added. "Since we've not had the opportunity to speak with all the individuals involved, but we do know who they are, I want to give my detectives the chance to have those conversations and take their statements before we release any additional information."
There is growing resistance across the country against lockdown measures put in place to check the coronavirus outbreak. Demonstrations calling on authorities to end the shutdown have occurred in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia, and Kentucky.
The US economy has been crippled by the pandemic that has hit over 740,000 people in the country and left almost 40,000 dead - the most for any nation. At least 22 million Americans have lost jobs as several businesses and enterprises have shut down.