Protesters gather outside police chief’s house after shooting

Reports on social media falsely claimed suspect was 16-year-old boy

(Kevin Pittman AP Images)

Hundreds of people have marched in protest in Raleigh, North Carolina after a police shooting on Tuesday evening.

Reports on social media that triggered the protests suggested police had shot an unarmed 16-year-old boy, but the authorities denied these claims.

Raleigh police said the suspect was 26-year-old Javier Torres and that he was shot in the abdomen after he refused to drop his weapon.

In a release, published on their Twitter page, Raleigh police detailed the events leading up to the shooting and confirmed how it occurred.

“Mr. Torres ran upon the arrival of the responding officers and a foot chase ensued, during which police repeatedly ordered Mr. Torres to stop and drop the gun. During the chase, Mr. Torres was shot one time by a responding officer,” the release said.

Earlier social media reports claimed Mr Torres had been shot in the back after stealing a pizza.

Following the rumours circulating online about the shooting, police confirmed they will attempt to release the bodycam footage.

“The officer who discharged his firearm was wearing a body worn camera that was activated and captured the incident. Other officers who were present also had body worn cameras that were activated. The Raleigh Police Department will seek a petition to authorise release of the video of this incident,” Raleigh police said.

The police confirmed that Mr Torres was taken to hospital by emergency services.

“As is standard protocol, the NC State Bureau of Investigation will conduct an investigation of the officer-involved shooting,” Raleigh police aded.

Following the shooting, protesters hit the streets, where some set light to a US flag, while others gathered outside Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown’s house in the early hours of the morning.

In a news conference, Ms Deck-Brown said “This is not who we are as a city,” while condemning the “reckless” misinformation that spread on social media after the shooting.

With footage still to be released, she added: “We ask if you allow this investigation to take its course so it can be competed in a thorough and transparent manner.”​

The shooting comes nearly a year after 30-year-old Antonio Mojarrad was shot and killed by police in the same area, where they claimed he refused to drop a knife.

Bodycam footage was not on that day and although Mr Mojarrad was shot eight times, the Wake County District attorney declined to pursue charges against the police and the officer, according to the Associated Press.

Protests calling for change took place outside the police department in the days following Mr Mojarrad’s death, and activists turned up to a city council meeting to air their views.

A few days later, Ms Deck-Brown announced, in a change of policy, that cameras would be left contentiously on, instead of needing to be activated by officers.