Jamaican teen dies after being shot by police in Canada
Ozama Shaw (15), who was an outgoing high school student, went for 11 surgeries and procedures till his death on Saturday.
Shaw is the youngest person to be shot by the police in Ontario so far.
He was shot at his abdomen by the police on July 27 after the latter was called for a gas station robbery.
The police said the teen was a part of a three-member gang who were trying to rob the station.
Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which is presently investigating the death of Shaw, said two from the gang fled while the third stayed to rob another business. Later, the third person tried to get into a vehicle.
The SIU's claim has been substantiated by a witness who said an armed man had put a gun at her but she instead called the police at 911 out of fear.
The witness' claim has further gained significance since the CCTV footage obtained by CBC News also revealed an armed man who was trying to rob a Pizza Pizza.
Though the name of the dead teen was not revealed by the SIU, Toronto Star came to know his identity from his family members.
Shaw's mother, Kadene, told Toronto Star: "They allowed me to go on the bed with him, so I held him. I still refused to believe, because I didn’t want to let go of my baby. It was the hardest thing to do.”
Kadene was of course in a distressed situation as she gave the interview with the tears rolling down her cheeks.
Toronto Star came to know from his family members that Shaw was a good young boy who loved Canada but was noticed to mingle with a wrong group of late.
They also said the teen used to come home late or disappear at times.
Explaining the natures of Shaw, his stepfather, David, was quoted by the Star as saying : "When the chance came up for him to socialize or do something that was adventurous, he just couldn’t resist."
The family members said Shaw was rarely been at home days before the shooting. Kadene said she even reported to police that her son was missing for six days.
Along with Shaw, another 15-year-old Duane Christian is also considered to be the youngest person to die in a shooting.
Christian was shot by the Toronto police in Scarborough in 2006.
(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)
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