The family of a New Jersey teen who was shot multiple times by police said that he was unarmed and trying to run from officers, NJ.com reports.
Radazz Hearns, who, family members say, suffered seven gunshot wounds, is currently in stable condition at the Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, N.J. He was shot five times in the right leg, once in the left leg and once in the pelvis.
"He's lucky to be alive," family attorney Samuel Anyan Jr. told the news site. "We'll be seeking justice. This appears to be an unjustified shooting."
According to the report, last Friday two New Jersey State Police troopers and a Mercer County sheriff's officer, who were responding to reports of shots fired, encountered three people, including Radazz.
The officers had stopped to question the trio when Radazz started to run. Bystanders reported that they saw the young man reaching toward his waistband before one of the troopers and the sheriff's officer started shooting, according to the report.
Authorities recovered a .22-caliber handgun near the scene about 12 hours after the shooting, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. A representative for the office said, "Darkness and the vehicle both impaired the ability of investigators to find it."
Anyan said that he has spoken to other witnesses who are willing to testify that the 14-year-old never had a gun.
"Those police were amped and they didn't give that little boy a chance,'' Rhonda Tirado, who witnessed the shooting from her home, told the news site. "There was no room for no chase. They just shot that little boy right there."
Tirado, who only knows Radazz as "Rha Rha," said that the officers' unmarked gray minivan pulled up to the trio and the officers got out to question them when Radazz took off running before the gunfire started. She added that she didn't see Radazz with a gun, but instead saw him trying to grab his red sweatpants to keep them from falling.
"I don't think those little boys had no clue what was going on,'' Tirado added. "I think they was at the wrong place at the wrong time.''
Tirado told NJ.com that she saw the three boys pass her home about 15 minutes before the shooting occurred. They were joking around and didn't seem to be in a hurry before the officers stopped them.
Anyan said that, to the best of his knowledge, in addition to being in an unmarked vehicle, the officers were not wearing standard uniforms. He added that the officers will have to explain "why they were trying to execute a 14-year-old boy. You don't have the right to be judge, jury and executioner."
The officers involved in the shooting, who have not been identified, are currently on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
Read more at NJ.com.