- Police Brutality Watch

The shooting of a 15-year-old boy by North Charleston police officers has left many people in the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood angry and frustrated at what they said is an out-of-control police department. "There was no need for deadly force," said Lakeisha Lawson, an eyewitness to the shooting. "They didn't have to shoot him." After the shooting, police accompanied by dogs broke up an angry crowd and arrested the teen's mother. Police said the shooting was justified because the teen threatened officers. The teenager led officers on a high-speed chase through the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood in a stolen truck, police said. According to reports, police only used their weapons after the teen twice tried to run down officers. The teen later was treated and released from the Medical University of South Carolina. [more]