A Philadelphia police officer has been charged with murder for shooting a man in the back. a 12 year old boy who opened fire while being chased, the city attorney reported Monday.
The agent Edsaul Mendoza, 26, who he was fired from the police in Aprilwas arrested Sunday and taken into custody for the death of Thomas Siderio in early March.
It was accusedamong other things, of “murder in the first degree” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said.
During a press conference, authorities detailed the circumstances that led to the boy’s death.
Mendoza, who was in civilian clothes at the time of the shooting, was on a surveillance operation with three other officers in an unmarked vehicle in Philadelphia, which like many other large cities across the country, is experiencing a rise in crime.
Seeing Siderio and another 17-year-old, the police officers decided to go around the block.
Then they turned on the flashing lights and that’s when the 12-year-old opened fire on his vehicleaccording to the authorities.
Mendoza fired back three times at Siderio, and another officer fired once. The boy fled, but according to the district attorney, who said he had video footage that he described as “very difficult to watch,” the teen had already dropped his gun when he was killed.
“When Agent Mendoza fired the third and fatal shot, he knew that Thomas Siderio, 12 years old, 5 feet tall and 110 pounds, no longer had a weapon or the ability to hurt him,” Krasner said.
“But nonetheless he shot him in the back which killed him,” he added.
A representative of a police union, quoted by The New York Times, said that Mendoza, “like any other citizen, has the right to due process, and we trust that our judicial system will protect this agent’s constitutional right to a fair trial.” “.
