Boy, 12, dies after Cleveland police shot him over BB gun

A 12-year-old boy died in a hospital Sunday after a Cleveland police officer shot him while he was brandishing what turned out to be a BB gun, an attorney for the family said.

The shooting occurred Saturday after officers responded to reports of a male with a gun. A man who called 911 told dispatchers that the boy was at a recreation center pointing a pistol that was "probably fake" and scaring people.

Police said the officer fired two shots at the boy after he pulled the weapon from his waistband. The orange safety indicator had been removed from the barrel.

Investigators said the boy did not point the gun at officers but had reached for it after being told to raise his hands.

Deputy Chief Edward Tomba said the gunshots hit the boy in the stomach at least once, according to local media reports. The boy, whose name has not officially been released, did not make any verbal threats to the officer and there was not a physical confrontation, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer newspaper.

The department's Use of Deadly Force Investigation Team is looking into the shooting, and detectives have determined that the weapon was a BB gun. 

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press