Police officers in Acatlán de Pérez Figueroa, Oaxaca, shot and killed a 16-year-old boy after mistaking him for a criminal Tuesday night.
Alexander Martínez Gómez left the house of relatives to buy soft drinks at the corner store with three friends, the newspaper Milenio reported, when he was shot by police who mistook the group of teenagers for armed criminal suspects they were pursuing.
A 15-year-old boy was also injured during the incident and taken to a nearby hospital.
“My son had a dream! They have cut that short!” Martínez’s grieving mother shouted in a video making the rounds on social media. “They aren’t criminals, they are children. How can I believe they were confused?”
She also says that nobody offered to provide first aid to her son after the shooting to try to save the young soccer player’s life.
Martínez’s dream was to become a professional soccer player. He played with a Veracruz club and was registered with the Liga MX, Mexico’s premier soccer league.
The state Attorney General’s Office is investigating the incident, and one police officer has been detained in the shooting.
State human rights authorities say they received 344 complaints against police officers last year and 120 so far this year.
Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said that federal authorities are also planning on assisting in the investigation and members of the military and the National Guard were being dispatched to maintain order in the town, located in the Papaloapan basin region of the state.
“They killed him but I won’t let myself fall. I want everyone to stand with me and resist because if they did this to me and my son they can do it to anyone’s son!” Martinez’s mother lamented.
Source: Milenio (sp), El Universal (sp)
