11-year-old says being shot by Mississippi officer felt like ‘a big punch to the chest’

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Aderrien Murry, the 11-year-old child who was shot by a Mississippi police officer after he called for help, said the moment he was struck by the bullet felt like “a big punch to the chest.”

Aderrien was seriously injured when he was shot in the chest on May 20 by an Indianola police officer responding to a domestic call at his mother’s home.

“I ran across the corner and then I just got shot,” he said in an exclusive interview with ABC News on Tuesday, demonstrating how he exited the room with both hands raised in the air.

He said getting shot felt like “a Taser, like a big punch to the chest.”

Aderrien Murry.
Aderrien Murry.Family photo

Police were called to the home after the father of another child of Nakala Murry, Aderrien’s mother, unexpectedly showed up around 4 a.m., according to a $5 million federal civil rights lawsuit the family filed on Tuesday.

The man was “irate,” the suit says, and Murry told Aderrien to call the police.

Officer Greg Capers responded and arrived at the home “with his firearm drawn at the front and asked everyone inside of the residence to come outside,” it says.

Carlos Moore, an attorney for the family, said police were told that the man was unarmed and had run out a back door and that three children were in the residence.

As Aderrien was coming around the corner of a hallway that led into the living room area, “he was instantly shot by Defendant Officer Capers,” according to the suit. The child suffered a collapsed lung, lacerated liver and fractured ribs, it says.

After he was shot, Murry told ABC News that her son said, “I don’t want to die.”

“I said, ‘You not gonna die, baby. You not gonna die. Just keep talking,” she said.

Aderrien was taken to the hospital and released four days later to recover at home. He said he has had trouble breathing, according to ABC.

The lawsuit accuses Capers of failing to assess the situation before displaying and firing his weapon. It names the city of Indianola, Police Chief Ronald Sampson and Officer Capers as defendants.

No charges have been filed and Capers remains on paid administrative leave. Since the shooting, there have been calls for the officer to be fired and charged.

The police department and Capers declined to comment on Tuesday, citing the ongoing investigation.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said it is investigating the shooting.

Antonio Planas contributed.


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