A young boy was left ‘terrified’ of cops after North Carolina police officers pulled their guns on him and his friends while they were playing outside an apartment complex in Durham.
9-year-old Zakarryya Cornelius was playing tag with his two friends at the Rochelle Manor Apartments complex when five officers confronted them while pointing their guns at them.
The cops handcuffed 15-year-old Jaylin before Cornelius’ mother, Makeba Hoffler, ran over to stop the officers.
The horrifying ordeal comes as tensions increase between black communities and law enforcement after a series of cases where officers have seriously injured or killed people of color.
The incident happened when Cornelius, Jaylin, and their other friend were playing tag outside the apartment complex where they live.
In an interview with WRAL.com, the kids said they were confronted by cops pointing their guns at them.
“As soon as we come around the corner, we walk into five cops pointing guns at us saying, ‘Freeze!’ and ‘Get on the ground!’” Jaylin shared. “So, we were just thinking, like, what did we do? We didn’t even do anything wrong.”
The teen said the officers handcuffed him while others pointed guns at them. “I asked them, ‘Why am I getting arrested? What’s going on?’” Jaylin told WRAL.com.
“They didn’t say anything. They didn’t tell me anything. They didn’t say, ‘Sorry for the inconvenience.’ They just kept going about their day.”
Jaylin added: “I didn’t make any wrong movements at that time or anything like that – just outside playing tag and walked into guns pointed at me.”
Cornelius’ mother, who was carrying a 3-year-old at that time, saw the officers and quickly ran over.
Hoffler told the news outlet: “Even as I proceeded to run toward the officer screaming, ‘they are kids,’ their guns were still drawn.
“I’m going to die tonight. That’s what I was thinking because, like I said, I was not going to bury my son, and I was not going to bury none of these kids.”
The concerned mother added: “What if these kids would have kept running because they were so scared? The officers would’ve shot. Our babies would’ve been at Duke Hospital.”
Speaking about the ordeal, 9-year-old Cornelius said: “I was just terrified. Every time I see them, I feel like I got to get on the ground.”
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