Murky questions surround fatal police shooting of 6-year-old Louisiana boy
Louisiana investigators continue to question city marshals after a 6-year-old boy was fatally shot Tuesday night during a police chase.聽
Two city marshals from the central Louisiana city of Marksville were chasing a vehicle driven by Chris Few, after he fled from the marshals who were attempted to serve him a warrant. When Mr. Few reached a dead end, he attempted to reverse the car and back into the marshals.聽
The marshals then opened fire at Few鈥檚 car, fatally shooting his 6-year-old son, Jeremy Mardis, who was inside the car at the time. Jeremy was 鈥渃aught in the line of fire鈥� and died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest, according to Avoyelles Parish Coroner Dr. L.J. Mayeux.聽
鈥淢ore likely than not they were shooting into the driver side, and he was on the passenger side,鈥� Dr. Mayeux told the Associated Press. 鈥淗别 was in the line of fire.鈥�
Few was also shot and is in serious condition, hospital officials said Wednesday.
鈥淎nytime an individual is killed, especially a child, it鈥檚 a tragedy,鈥� Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the Louisiana State Police, told AP. 鈥淭he investigative team spent 12 hours Wednesday going through the entire scene from a forensic standpoint to get the trajectory of the bullets, find and count the casings and generally put the scene together.鈥澛�
State officials can鈥檛 confirm why the gunshots were initiated or who shot Mardis, but 鈥淲e will in the very near future,鈥� Louisiana State Trooper Scott Moreau told Newsweek. 鈥淵ou can rest assured we are going to get to the bottom of it.鈥�
Jeremy鈥檚 grandmother, Samantha Few, told WAFB-TV that her grandson was autistic and 鈥渁 special gift from God.鈥�
Jeremy was a first-grader at Lafargue Elementary, where grief counselors are currently working with classmates and teachers.
鈥淗别 he met and they loved him,鈥� Ms. Few told WAFB. 鈥淗别 didn鈥檛 deserve what happened. He wouldn鈥檛 hurt a fly.鈥�
Jeremy is the in the US this year, according to an unofficial count kept by The Guardian.聽
This report contains material from the Associated Press and Reuters.
