According to the District Attorney, the cop who fatally shot a 12-year-old kid in the back has been accused of killing.
According to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, Thomas ‘TJ’ Siderio was unarmed and laying face down when he was slain, and Officer Edsaul Mendoza understood it when he squeezed the shot.
The boy died on March 1st while escaping from police officers after allegedly shooting a shot into their patrol car.
The District Attorney’s Office stated at a press conference on Monday that the grand jury had seen a video of the event — which has yet to be released to the public — that proved the shooting was killing, not self-defense.
DA Krasner Provides Update on Investigation Regarding Fatal Police Shooting of 12-Year-Old
Posted by Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office on Monday, May 2, 2022
He called the footage “very, very upsetting and quite unpleasant to watch.”
After the youngster discharged a cartridge from the Taurus 9 mm handgun, three of the cops in the car took cover, while Mendoza “began what can properly be considered a strategically unsound foot chase of the 12-year-old.”
Officer Sarpong, one of the other policemen taking cover, fired one shot “at no specific target.” Furthermore, Officer Mendoza fired three rounds as he followed the youngster down the street, the last one “while standing on the sidewalk and reasonably near to Thomas Siderio.”
Krasner claimed the boy was unarmed for the second and third bullets because he had dropped the rifle 40 feet earlier.
Krasner said that it is evident that Thomas Siderio had stopped running and was possibly surrendering at the time he was shot. It is evident that at the time of his shooting, Thomas Siderio was virtually facedown on the sidewalk, in a position resembling a pushup. He was turning back toward the police who were following him, possibly to gaze at the cop who was chasing him, when he was shot in the back.
The DA claimed the youngster collapsed or plunged to the ground as the second shooting took place; he said Mendoza knew the boy was unarmed at this point because of the manner he casually approached the suspect, who was behind a car something he would never have done assuming he thought the suspect had a weapon on him.
“When Mendoza fired the third shot, he was within half a car-length of Thomas Siderio, and that’s when he would have had the opportunity to see Thomas Siderio clearly at the time he fired,” says the prosecutor.
Krasner stated that as soon as the other police came after the shooting, he informed them that the suspect had thrown the pistol and indicated in the direction of where it was found.
“When officer Mendoza fired the third and final shot, he knew the 12-year-old, 5-foot-tall, 111-pound Thomas Siderio no longer possessed a pistol or the potential to hurt him, yet he still fired a shot into his spine that killed him.”
Mendoza, according to Krasner, made an “untruthful statement regarding his location” when he fired the last two bullets, suggesting he knew what he was doing was unlawful.
Mendoza is accused with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and criminal possession of an instrument. Bond has been denied for him.
The DA speculated that because the four men were dressed in plain clothes and driving an unmarked car, the two boys may not have realized they were actually police officers; he added that the police lights and the first shooting occurred “at the same time”.
The grand jury, according to reports, had difficulties with the first stop as well; two of the cops said they wanted to talk with the duo as part of a weapons investigation, while the other two asserted they were performing a traffic stop due to riding a bike the wrong way on the street.
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