Protesters press council on Killing of Unarmed Black Teen by Gary Police Officer

 
16 Year Old Vincent Smith Shot in the Back of the Head by Officer  
The three-month anniversary of a police shooting that killed a 16-year-old West Side High School student was marked Tuesday with questions to the City Council from protesters. Najee Ali, executive director of Project Islamic Hope based in Los Angeles, asked city leaders why it was taking so long for an indictment against the officer. He and members of Purdue University Calumet’s Social Justice Club spoke at Tuesday’s council meeting. Vincent Smith was shot Jan. 15 by Patrolman Levi Randolf, who was responding to a call about a break-in. The eight protesters demanded to know Tuesday why Randolph was still being paid by the city and why the council hasn’t pressured the office of Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter to deliver a grand jury indictment in the Smith case. Police said Vincent Smith, 16, was shot Jan. 15 while fleeing officers investigating a reported burglary at Smith's cousin's home. Smith was running away from the officers and ignored Randolph’s orders to stop, according to police reports. Randolph said he saw Smith reach into a sweatshirt pocket and believed he was grabbing a gun. Randolph shot Smith in the back of the head before learning Smith was unarmed. A statement from Carter’s office earlier in the day said the prosecutor and the FBI have been conducting parallel investigations, but the local office hadn’t yet received the FBI’s official findings. The statement said a report is expected to be completed in about 60 days. [MORE] and [MORE]