Fort Lauderdale Police Shoot & Beat Down Unarmed 15 Year Old Black Teen After Chase - Critical Condition

 

Police and family members searched for answers the day after an officer shot a 15-year-old whom he mistakenly thought was driving a stolen car.

A 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was shot by a Fort Lauderdale police officer during the pursuit of a vehicle thought to be stolen but later determined to be a different car.

Dwuan Crooms is connected to a ventilator at Broward General Medical Center. His uncle, a Plantation firefighter, said Crooms has a collapsed lung and kidney, liver damage and internal bleeding.

"We haven't really heard the whole story yet," uncle Shaun Sands said. "We've heard bits and pieces here and there." Crooms, a student at William Dandy Middle School, was shot on Interstate 95 late Friday night after what police said was a violent struggle with the teenager.

"There had been reports that the suspect was shot in the back and I must stress to you that this information is also inaccurate," Fort Lauderdale police Sgt. Frank Sousa said at a news conference. "At this point in the investigation, we can confirm that the shot entered the top of the suspect's shoulder area, not in the back."

Police said the chase began when they spotted a Pontiac that Crooms was driving on I-95. A vehicle matching its description had been stolen during an armed robbery.

Police said Crooms refused to stop and led officers on a 100 mph chase through Broward and Palm Beach counties. The chase ended when Crooms slammed into another vehicle and spun out of control, police said.

Crooms was shot and a 16-year-old passenger in the car was stunned with a Taser gun.

"They had to have every reason to believe in their mind that they were dealing with two armed individuals," Sousa said.

Police said the car Crooms was driving wasn't stolen. The vehicle in question was recovered about three hours after the shooting.

Whether the chase and shooting were justified is now the focus of an investigation.

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is already under scrutiny for several other police-involved shootings. According to published reports, Fort Lauderdale police shot and killed four suspects last year.

"We just want to know what happened," Sands said. "Why is a 15-year-old kid laying up in a hospital bed?"

Sands said he didn't know why Crooms was behind the wheel of a vehicle when he isn't old enough to drive on his own. [MORE] and [MORE} and [MORE]