How "community outrage" starts

[TheeBadOne]

Boy shot by officer was like many 15-year-olds

Courtney Williams was an "everykid."

He wasn't a superstar basketball player. Yet he was good enough to be the starting point guard for the Minneapolis Edison High School sophomore team, friends say.

He wasn't an honor student, but he kept his grades high enough that he could continue to play ball and avoid punishment at home.

Like most 15-year-olds, Courtney put his energy into his clothes, getting his driver's license, girls and song lyrics that he dreamed would lead to a rap career. He had hopes of going to college to major in business.

Courtney, known to friends and family members as "Whoopi," would have blended in with just about any group of teens before Oct. 24.

That morning, his name became cemented in Minneapolis history.

Courtney was fatally shot by Minneapolis police officer Scott Mars just after midnight as a foot chase ended in the 3000 block of Knox Av. N. in the Jordan neighborhood.

According to a search warrant affidavit, Mars repeatedly yelled for the boy to stop. He fired when Courtney stopped, turned and raised an arm, the affidavit said.

Since his death, family members and friends have struggled to find answers and fill the void left by an unfulfilled promise.

"I don't know what happened that night. All I know is what people told me. A lot of it is hearsay," Tahisha Brewer, Courtney's mother, said in her north Minneapolis home.

"All I know is that the police shot my son and he's dead and gone."

In Dolton, Ill., a middle-class suburb south of Chicago, Travis Jones, Courtney's father, listened recently to his son's baritone voice rapping on a CD and clasped his hands tightly. Jones hadn't heard the songs before Courtney's death.

Veins bulged in his hands, and his fingertips turned pale with the grip.

"This is all I have left," he said. "I've got this CD and a few pictures."

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now for an article with some facts, not parental emotions

No charges against Minneapolis cop who shot 15-year-old

No criminal charges will be filed against a Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a 15-year-old boy in late October.

A Hennepin County grand jury heard from more than 20 witnesses on Thursday and Friday before returning a "no bill" ruling this afternoon.

Their ruling means that the jurors determined that there was not enough evidence to prosecute officer Scott Mars in connection with the Oct. 24 death of Courtney Williams.

Deputy Chief County Attorney Pete Cahill said that Courtney's mother, Tahisha Brewer and various members of the police department, including Mars, had been notified of the decision.

Brewer, testified before the grand jury, but declined to comment Friday on either her participation in the process or on the decision.

Mars shot the 15-year-old just after midnight Oct. 24 as a foot chase ended in the 3000 block of Knox Av. N. in the Jordan neighborhood.

According to court documents, Mars told investigators that he repeatedly yelled for the teenager to stop and that he fired after the boy stopped, turned and raised an arm. Mars, who has a clean disciplinary record, told investigators that he heard Williams say "I have a gun" as he turned.

Authorities have said that a pellet gun that resembled a .45-caliber pistol was found 10 to 15 feet from Williams' body. They also have said his fingerprint was on the gun.

Chief Bill McManus has scheduled a Monday morning news conference to discuss the decision.

"This has been a difficult case for everyone involved," he said in a written statement. "Once I have had an opportunity to fully review the finding and meet with [police community relations council members] we will then make a joint public statement."

[TheeBadOne]

Courtney Williams and a group of other kids passed a pellet gun from one to another as they ran from police. It ended up in Williams' hands shortly before he was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer early on Oct. 24, a close friend told investigators.

Police made public nearly 200 pages of investigative reports Monday, three days after a grand jury cleared officer Scott Mars in Williams' shooting death.

During a Nov. 16 interview with police, the friend -- who was not named in the documents -- said he, Williams, 15, and a group of other teens encountered a kid with a pellet gun after they left a friend's birthday party Oct. 23. They began running and passing the gun around after somebody said police were coming.

On Monday, police met behind closed doors at the New Beginnings Baptist Tabernacle for 2½ hours with family members and members of the year-old Police Community Relations Council. Using a projected computer presentation, they laid out the investigation into Williams' death.

Williams' aunt said there are still too many unanswered questions to support the ruling.

"We still don't have the big picture," said Ella Davis-Suggs. "I do know that this is a culture that has not had our community's best interests at heart."

Williams was shot in the head and shoulder by Mars shortly after midnight on Oct. 24 as a foot chase ended in the 3000 block of Knox Av. N. in the Jordan neighborhood.

According to Mars' statement, given Oct. 25 and made public Monday, the officer said he repeatedly yelled for the teen to stop. He fired after the boy stopped and he could see that the teen held a chrome handgun near his right thigh.

"The suspect then looked me in the eyes over his left shoulder and spun around, raising the gun toward me, and I believed he was going to shoot me," Mars said.

"At this time I fired two shots at the suspect. I observed the suspect drop to the ground and I saw his gun fly through the air."

Authorities have said a pellet gun that resembled a .45-caliber pistol was found 10 to 15 feet from Williams' body. They have said his fingerprint was on the gun.

According to Williams' friend: "A kid ran back down there and said the police was coming and you better start running. And the BB gun was being passed. The gun was passed to me after we was running and I just passed the gun on because I was scared. I didn't know what to do, so I just passed it on and Courtney grabbed it from me. ... I ran through a different yard than Courtney. I ran right. Courtney ran left. Next thing I heard was two shots," the police documents said.

Police Chief Bill McManus said after the meeting that he believes "Mars' actions at the time of the shooting were justified."

Mars, who has been on desk duty, was scheduled to be back on patrol Monday night, said Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Federation.

Delmonico said he understands the concerns raised by Williams' family and community leaders.

"I just question whether there will ever be enough evidence to satisfy their concerns to where they would agree or understand what happened," Delmonico said.

The Rev. Ian Bethel, co-chair of the Community Relations Council, said the community side of the council, "respectfully agrees to disagree" with the grand jury's conclusion.

Davis-Suggs, the Williams family's designated spokeswoman, said she was also surprised to learn Monday that the gun was located so far -- 10 to 15 feet -- from her nephew's body.

In addition, Davis-Suggs said, there are many smudged fingerprints on the gun. The only readable fingerprint from Williams, she said, was found on the barrel.

"How do you pull a gun on someone and only leave one fingerprint on the barrel?" she asked. "Who holds the barrel of the gun with one finger?"

Davis-Suggs also questioned whether there was any minority representation on the grand jury. She said she had not been given any information about grand jurors, their racial makeup or where they live.

Williams' family and community leaders are seeking a transcript of the testimony to the grand jury. They said they believe that grand jury proceedings need to be open to the public.

"We don't know what evidence was allowed in that room," community leader Spike Moss said. "All of us were scared to death when it went to the grand jury."

Bethel said the council plans to hold two hearings over the next few weeks for citizens to air their concerns.

Davis-Suggs said Williams' mother, Tahisha Brewer, is looking for closure, not necessarily to affix blame.

"The wound is still pretty deep," Davis-Suggs said. "Today, it was like the scab was ripped off."

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