Video Shows Black Teen Surrendering While Cops Shoot Him In Brooklyn

A Brooklyn teen who was shot at by police 16 times in 2013 after cops claimed he was threatening them with a BB gun is suing the NYPD, arguing that the shooting was not justified. Lawyers say surveillance video from the incident proves their client's case—indeed, video shows the young man surrendering as a cop fires at him.

As first reported by the Daily News, Keston Charles was shot three times by Officer Jonathan Rivera during a foot chase on December 9th, 2013. Charles who was then 15, had reportedly gotten into a fight with some rival teenagers in Brownsville, allegedly pointing a BB gun at another boy. Cops argued that when Rivera and Officer Kevin Franco tried to confront Charles, he had the BB gun on him.

An internal NYPD review ruled that Rivera, who fired at Charles a total of 16 times, was justified in doing so, but video surveillance shows Charles being chased by both officers, while Rivera shoots him from behind:

Another video shows Rivera shooting Charles in the chest while the unarmed teen's hands are on his head:

Charles and his lawyers are arguing that he did not pose a threat to cops at the time, and that the shooting—which left Charles in a medically induced coma for three weeks—was unjustified. "It's very clear under the law that an officer cannot shoot a person in the back simply for running away," David B. Shanies, one of Charles's attorneys, told Gothamist. "It should go without saying that an officer can't shoot someone in the chest who has his hand on his head and is surrendering. Both those things happened here and the police shooting was totally unjustified."

Police claimed Charles pointed the BB gun at the officers, but Shanies says the video evidence shows otherwise. "If Keston turned around and pointed a gun at [the cop], then I think it would be pretty obvious that he would have justification to use deadly force. That is the justification the officer gave, but that never happened. The video shows that never happened."

A lawyer for the city argued that Charles turned his body toward the cops in a threatening way several times, and that he "did not put his hands up to surrender before any round of shots." The city also argued that the shooting was justified because Charles was only hit three times, proving "how fast he continued to move and that the threat to public safety had not been abated."

Shanies says the surveillance video contradicts this point. "I have trouble understanding how they can argue what they argue in light of the video. At a certain point both sides have to shut up and people can watch the video for themselves. I've never heard a detailed explanation regarding what [the city] thought happened in the video but I think it's pretty self-explanatory." Meanwhile, Charles said in a sworn deposition, "I put up my hands, they was still shooting."

As for the city, Patricia Miller, Chief of the Special Federal Litigation Division, told Gothamist in a statement, "As we have argued in our motion before the Court, the evidence establishes that the shooting was justified."

Charles's attorneys have brought the lawsuit to a Manhattan judge, and are waiting to see if he will dismiss the suit or bring it before a jury.