Minneapolis police were already responding to a call of shots being fired in the Jordan neighborhood early Sunday when several residents called 911 to report that a teenager in the area had been handed a large-caliber gun. Officer Scott Mars and another officer had a physical description of the teenager who was in a crowd that scattered around 30th and Knox Avs. N. just after midnight, said community leader Ron Edwards. Mars chased 15-year-old Courtney Williams, who appeared to be grabbing at something in his waistband. Police were yelling at the teenager to drop his weapon and get down on the ground. Trapped in a yard enclosed with fences, Williams allegedly turned toward Mars with a gun in his hand, said Edwards, whose account was confirmed by an authority with knowledge of the case. It is unclear whether the teenager pointed the weapon at the officer. It turned out to be a pellet gun that resembled a .45-caliber pistol. The only legible fingerprint on a pellet gun that police said Courtney Williams had with him when he was fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer early Sunday belongs to the teenager, according to authorities with knowledge of the case. Relatives of the 15-year-old Edison High School sophomore have adamantly denied that he had a gun that resembles a .45-caliber pistol on the night he died. [more] and [more]
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