Footage Shows What Really Happened When Police Shot 14-Year-Old in the Mouth

There is a lot of news circulating at the moment around the 14 year old boy that was shot in the mouth at close range by police yesterday in Hangberg… writes JUSTIN SULLIVAN.

I’m hoping this quick sequence of images will lay some of the controversy to rest.

The image below clearly shows the Police officer firing (what I believe to be) his last round at the individuals under the table before coming to a stop face on.

I cannot confirm if this shot was the one that hit the boy, but I was sharing a similar angle with the officer and could not tell who the occupants were.

I am not familiar with protocol in these kinds of situations, but I do know that this was no place for a young boy.

I was also shot at and hit in my position, being around this area was not advisable.

As much as the police may need to relook at their firing tactics, parents, adults and even bystanders such as myself need to be more accountable for our youth.

https://www.facebook.com/SABCNewsWesternCape/videos/1604584569593921/?comment_id=1605091146209930&notif_t=comment_mention&notif_id=1505282951004598

I have seen police being attacked from people using barricades in the past, so I understand their difficult situation. However I am not sure if the close range shot was justifiable?

Regardless whether they couldn’t identify the occupants or not.

What I can conclude from these images and my personal experience, is that the officer did not intentionally fire at a 14 year old boy – he was the victim of a protest gone violent and we hope for his speedy recovery.

Watch sequence of photos show what happened when police shot at 14-year-old

https://www.facebook.com/SullivanPhotographyZA/videos/835772919931232/

According to SABC News Western Cape the boy has been hospitalised. The City of Cape Town also said two of their staff members were injured during the protest which turned violent. The protest was allegedly over fishing quotas.

View more photos of Hangberg Protest, Hout Bay – “Streets resemble war zone”

MORE PHOTOS HERE.

All Photos and text © Justin Sullivan. Republished here with kind permission of SullivanPhotography. 

View more photos on Justin Sullivan’s pages:
www.facebook.com/SullivanPhotographyZA/
www.twitter.com/Sullphotography

UPDATE: Government has called for calm in the fishing protest, and says that it has not yet taken a decision on total allowable catch.