The Latest: Baltimore police identify officer who shot teen

BALTIMORE – The Latest on the shooting by Baltimore police of a 13-year-old by carrying a fake gun (all times local):

3 p.m

Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis says a 13-year-old who was shot by police had turned toward the officers with a replica gun still in his hand when one officer fired two rounds, striking the teen in the shoulder and leg.

At a news conference Thursday police identified the one who fired his service weapon as Officer Thomas Smith, a 12-year departmental veteran. He has been placed on routine administrative duty. A second officer was present during the incident but didn’t open fire; that officer is a six-year veteran.

The teen was shot Wednesday afternoon in East Baltimore and is being treated in the hospital for non-fatal wounds. Police say he was holding a BB gun that closely resembles a handgun.

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10:50 a.m.

Baltimore police are investigating an officer’s shooting of a 13-year-old boy carrying a fake gun.

The teen was shot in one of his legs Wednesday afternoon in East Baltimore. Police say he’s being treated at a hospital and is expected to survive.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis says two officers on patrol saw the boy with what they thought was a firearm. Davis says the officers identified themselves and the boy ran. When the officers caught up with him about 150 yards away, Davis says they ordered the child to drop the gun. When he didn’t, an officer fired.

Davis says the boy had a replica of a semiautomatic pistol. He says that after the shooting, the teen’s mother told officers it was a BB gun.