Police shoot dead 13- year-old boy playing with toy gun

This fake gun was found on the boy after he was
killed. The officers who shot him have been
placed on administrative leave.
Californian police officers fatally shot a teen boy
Tuesday afternoon because was armed with
what looked like an assault rifle — but it was a
toy gun.
Andy Lopez, 13, was struck with several rounds
from the sheriff’s deputies’ handguns and fell
onto the replica in southwest Santa Rosa,
authorities said.
He was declared dead at the scene.
“Why did they kill him? Why?” the teen’s tearful
mother, Sujey Annel Cruz Cazarez, said to The
Press Democrat after returning from identifying
the body.
“I told him what I tell him every day,” his father,
Rodrigo Lopez, said. “Behave yourself.”
The toy gun resembled an AK-47. Plastic
replicas of the gun can be purchased for just
$34.99, while metal and wood replicas can go
for more than $200, the California newspaper
said.
Sheriff’s officials said it was unclear whether the
replica could fire BBs or some other projectile.
The two deputies who opened fire called for
backup when they first spotted Lopez walking
around with his friend’s toy weapon. Then they
repeatedly ordered Lopez to drop the gun, and he
failed to comply, according to authorities.
After killing Lopez, the deputies handcuffed the
boy, found a plastic gun in his waistband and
cordoned off the scene for hours.
Both officers, neither of whom was identified, are
on administrative leave, said Sheriff’s Lt. Steve
Brown.