A police officer was justified in fatally shooting a 15-year-old boy who was advancing at him with a crowbar, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Ruben Urbina, an honor roll student at PACE West, in Gainesville, was shot and killed Friday near his home in Haymarket, a Washington suburb.
The teen had called 911 and claimed he had a bomb strapped to his chest and was holding a family member hostage inside the property.
Ruben Urbina, an honor roll student at PACE West, in Gainesville (left and right) was shot and killed Friday near his home in Haymarket, a Washington suburb
When the cops arrived, they found Urbina in front of the home, and witnessed him strike his brother’s girlfriend with a crowbar, Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert said at a press conference Tuesday.
Ebert said the boy had mental problems and attempted suicide the night before.
The boy then started coming towards the officers with a crowbar in what police referred to as a threatening manner and ignored their commands to put it down.
One officer fired and shot the teenager in the upper body. He died at the scene, in front of his mother and brother.
Prince William County police at the scene in the 6800 block of Hartzell Hill Lane in Haymarket, Virginia, after an officer shot a teenage boy dead Friday morning
Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Paul Ebert, today ruled the shooting was justified.
He stated: ‘It is always tragic when a young person loses his life by any means. In this case, the Juvenile involved was ready, willing and able to inflict death or serious bodily harm upon the responding officers. In my opinion, the officer involved acted as a result of a reasonable apprehension of death or serious bodily harm and the homicide was justified.’
Prince William County Police Chief Barry Barnard commented, ‘As we continue to evaluate this incident, it seems at this stage in our administrative investigation, the officer acted appropriately in response to dynamic circumstances.
‘This is undoubtedly a tragedy and we recognize the loss of this life is extremely difficult for the family and our community. Officers are often placed in situations where they are forced to make critical decisions quickly based on limited information. This shooting was traumatic for the officers involved and we ask for continued support from our community as we move forward.’
The investigation revealed earlier that morning, Ruben made comments to his mother implying that he wanted to tie her up with a telephone cord, according to a police statement.
He became increasingly aggressive, at which point, the mother went to another room of the home to get assistance from Ruben’s brother and his girlfriend.
One officer fired and shot the teenager in the upper body and he died in front of his home
They found Ruben in the garage where they attempted to calm him down, but police say the teen told them he’d called police and wanted officers to kill him.
During that encounter, Ruben pulled out a knife and made threats towards them.
Ruben then located a crowbar in the garage and continued making threats. At this point, the first responding officers began to arrive.
None of the four officers at the scene were injured. A Prince William County Police EOD-trained K-9 and explosive technicians from the Virginia State Police conducted a thorough check of the home for any possible explosives. No explosives were located.
The girl who was struck with the crowbar was treated at a hospital and released.
Ebert said that despite concerns about the young man, ‘there comes a point in time where police have to do what they have to do.’
The boy’s family did not want to talk about what led up to the shooting and they said he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The Urbina family say they are still in shock and that the boy’s 18-year-old brother, who witnessed the shooting, still hasn’t come home because he is still too traumatized from the incident.
They have labelled the shooting as police brutality and say there was no need to kill their son.
‘Our little kid, only 5 foot, so skinny,’ his father Oscar Urbina told Fox News.
Police received a 911 call from the boy who claimed he had a bomb strapped to his chest and was holding a family member hostage inside the property. When they arrived they found the boy outside his home
‘Big policeman – come on. You have a Taser. Then perhaps take him to a hospital to evaluate. That is what should have happened…
‘It’s horrible. We are still grieving him and we just came from cremation just a few minutes ago and for just someone to come out and say, ‘Oh, it’s justified. Okay, goodbye.’
‘No, no, you can’t say goodbye to us. Our family has been destroyed. We will never have a life.’
His father added that the family were hiring a lawyer to find their own answers in what he called the ‘murder’ of his son.
The officer who fired his weapon was placed on routine administrative leave.
A funeral for teenager is planned for Wednesday.
The Prince William County Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards is continuing an independent administrative investigation into the shooting.
A final review of the incident will be conducted by the Department’s Use of Deadly Force Review Board, which will examine all aspects of the incident.
The officer involved in the shooting was identified as Officer Robert Choyce, age 35, a 7-year law enforcement veteran of the Prince William County Police Department. He is currently assigned to the Tactical Training & Response Unit and has not been involved in any previous officer-involved shootings.