Innocent Teen shot in the Jaw by OPD 4/3/13

http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22946646/oakland-police-shoot-suspect-during-investigation-armed-robbery?source=rss

Oakland: Police shoot and injure teenage boy while investigating armed robbery

By Natalie Neysa Alund and Rick Hurd Oakland Tribune

Posted:   04/04/2013 07:06:20 AM PDT

Updated:   04/04/2013 01:57:14 PM PDT

OAKLAND -- An Oakland police officer responding an armed robbery outside a downtown restaurant Wednesday night shot a teenage boy who turned out to have nothing to do with the crime, police said Thursday.

The teen, age 15 or 16, was not seriously injured when his jaw was grazed by a bullet and was treated at a hospital for minor injuries, said Sgt. Arturo Bautista. It was not immediately known Thursday if he was still hospitalized.

During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Police Chief Howard Jordan said the officer had "received a threat" from the teen and fired a single shot. Jordan didn't reveal what the threat was or how far the teen was from the officer.

Officers were called about 9:50 p.m. to investigate an armed robbery in the 1000 block of Clay Street and were given descriptions of three suspects -- all black men, ages 22-26, Jordan said. He said one of the men wore a black hooded sweatshirt.

A woman told officers she walked out of Le Cheval, a popular downtown Vietnamese restaurant, and was robbed at knifepoint by the three suspects. The restaurant was closed at the time of the robbery.

Minutes later, witnesses pointed officers in the direction of three people who matched those descriptions who were approaching another possible victim on a nearby street.

Jordan said it appeared the suspects were about to rob the victim. A second robbery did not take place, Jordan said, but at 10:08 p.m. someone reported shots

fired on the 1000 block of Jefferson Street -- about one block from where the woman was robbed at knifepoint.

During questioning, an officer said he received a threat from the teen on Jefferson and fired a single shot, Jordan said.

There were two other teens there, but they were not hit. The teenager who was hit suffered a non-life threatening wound to the lower right jaw, Jordan said. All three are from Oakland.

Jordan said no weapons were found on any of the teenagers and they were not involved in the earlier armed robbery.

No officers were injured during the incident, Bautista said.

Jordan said his officers had been in touch with the injured teen's family to check on his condition.

The Oakland police major crimes unit and internal affairs division are investigating the incident, police said.

Anyone with information about the armed robbery is asked to call 510-238-3821.

This is scary because I live a few blocks away. This young teenager could have been killed as the bullet "grazed" the side of his face. The story to me seems a bit hazy and it doesn't explain clearly why the officer fired. All of the teens present were "not involved" with the robbery they were investigating so what made the officer fire on them before that was figured out?