Local police shot dead a schizophrenic teen boy after his family sought help to calm him down.
Keith Vidal, 18, from North Carolina, threatened to fight with his mother and held a wielding screwdriver. The family then called the police for help, WECT-TV reported.
According to Vidal's stepdad, Mark Wilsey, two officers tried to subdue the teen. But a third officer came in and shot Vidal saying, "I don't have time for this. Tase him. Let's get him out of here." At that point, Vidal was tased by one of the officers and fell on the ground and "this guy shot him," Wilsey said.
"He reached right up, shot this kid point-blank, with all intent to kill," Wilsey told the BNC NEws. "He just murdered him flat out."
When Wilsey asked the officer the reason to shoot Vidal, he said, "Well, I'm protecting my officers."
Vidal was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead upon arrival.
According to the Examiner, the Boiling Springs Police Chief cleared the three officers of doing anything wrong at the scene. He said that the officers did not break any law.
Jerry Dove, chief of the Southport police, one of the responding agencies, said that Detective Byron Vassey, a nine-year veteran of the department, was placed on administrative leave, reported US News. However he did not reveal that Vassey was the one who shot the teen.
According to Houston Chronicle, the family recently lost their daughter in a car accident.
