A lawyer for the mother of a 14-year-old boy fatally shot by a Baltimore police officer this weekend is calling for an independent investigation of the incident.
Attorney A. Dwight Pettit said that in addition to filing a wrongful death lawsuit, he is asking the Baltimore state?s attorney?s office or state attorney general to oversee an investigation of the deadly altercation between Kevin Cooper and Officer Roderick Mitter Saturday morning.
Pettit said he doesn?t buy the police department?s self-defense argument.
“In my experience with police officer shootings, all they do is attempt to exonerate and whitewash the situation,” he said. “They never do anything impartial.”
Mitter and another officer responded to a call on 333 Font Hill Ave. in southwest Baltimore to find Kevin and his mother arguing over a bicycle, said police spokesman Officer Troy Harris. The officers “de-escalated” the fight and one officer left while Mitter remained to write a report.
Kevin became agitated and attacked Mitter with a broom handle, breaking it over the officer?s head as he tried to pepper spray the boy to no avail, Harris said. When Kevin lunged again with the jaggedbroken handle, Mitter shot Kevin in the shoulder, Harris said.
The boy was pronounced dead at the scene. Mitter was treated at Mercy Medical Center for a concussion and lacerations, Harris said, and an investigation is continuing.
But Pettit said that according to Kevin?s mother, a state corrections officer, there was no struggle. He said Mitter followed Kevin around, badgering him and saying things like, “You think you?re tough?”
Pettit said Kevin fired as Kevin attempted to unscrew a dust pan from its plastic handle.
“He never swung at the officer, and he never advanced on the officer,” Pettit said.
Kevin Cooper is the second person fatally shot by a city police officer this month. Ernest Oliver, 39, whom police said was fleeing from a suspected drug deal, was shot Aug. 4.
Oliver?s family also is filing a wrongful death suit against police. Pettit said he is interviewing witnesses of that shooting for his case against Mitter.
