In August 2024, a fleeing teenager was shot and killed by police in a southwest Baltimore neighborhood. According to The Baltimore Sun, 17-year-old William Gardner was a father-to-be and a familiar face in the community. Officers claimed he had a gun and approached him. Gardner fled, so they shot him 12 times.
This shooting followed two other Baltimore cases where police felt threatened by a victim they claimed was armed. Authorities initially withheld body-cam footage, Gardner’s name, and the number of shots fired. Then, local residents spoke out.
Interviewed by the Associated Press, Myreshia Macon, the mother of the victim, said, “The same way they’re keeping the public out of the loop, they’re keeping me blindsided, too. I don’t know nothing.” With WJZ, residents say a mother lost a child. A community devastated because of an officer’s fear.
Officers often cite being fearful for their safety in the aftermath of these killings, but fleeing youth can’t be a threat to heavily armed police. In their oppressive position, an officer's fear shouldn’t trump our well-being and result in senseless murder.
With this country’s extensive history of anti-Black violence, no one should blame anyone for fleeing the police for their own safety. A fleeing teenager is no threat to heavily armed police. Police are the aggressors, and their fear is a threat to us.