Radazz Hearz, a 14-year-old boy, is recovering after being shot seven times by New Jersey police officers.
According to the state attorney general’s office, two state troopers and a county sheriff were responding to reports of shots fired on Wednesday night. When they arrived at the residential street, they saw Hearns and two other men walking along the side of the road.
When police approached the group to question them, Hearns began running. Witnesses claim they saw Hearns reach toward his waistband, which is when police began firing. They first at least 10 bullets, striking the teen seven times—six times in the leg and one in the pelvis. Hearns was unarmed.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” Hearns’ lawyer, Samuel A. Anyan, Jr. said at a conference. “We’ll be seeking justice. This appears to be an unjustified shooting.”
The police department is investigating the shooting, and the two officers who shot at him are on administrative leave.