A 13-year-old boy was fatally shot in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night after police mistook the boy's BB gun for a real firearm. Police were called to the scene shortly before 8 p.m. after receiving reports of an armed robbery attempt. Upon arriving, they spotted a group of three males about a block away from the scene that seemed to match the victim's description.
However, when police approached, two of the three males — one of whom was 13-year-old Tyree King — reportedly fled. Police trailed King and another male into an alley, and officers said in a statement King "pulled a gun from his waistband" when they attempted to take him and the other suspect into custody. An officer then fired "repeatedly" at King, The Associated Press reported.
The gun was later determined to be a BB gun, the Columbus Division of Police said Thursday. King was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Columbus Division of Police said, per protocol, that the shooting will be "reviewed internally," The Associated Press reported. The incident comes roughly two years after police in Cleveland, Ohio, fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was holding a pellet gun in a park by his home.