AUSTIN (KXAN) -- An early morning shooting in the middle of July left a 15-year-old teen shot in the back. His family claims the Austin Police Department and the district attorney have dropped the ball because no one has been charged.
Officers, however, paint a very different picture of what happened that night.
"On July 19 I got a call that at 3 a.m. Jamir was shot," Clarissa Moore said during a news conference Tuesday morning. "His right kidney was shattered, [doctors] had to remove that. The bullet ripped through his colon, so they also had to perform colon surgery."
The Moore family said the boy was visiting his friends at an apartment complex in northwest Austin not far from where he lived.
KXAN asked what was happening so early in the morning to Jamir, who said "nothing, walking around. [We were] chilling. We got some fresh air and that was it."
Austin police said that's not what its investigation found. In a statement to KXAN, police said Jamir was one of three people wearing dark clothing, some in ski masks, looking through cars with flashlights trying to open car doors.
KXAN's Barrett Tryon asked Kim T. Cole, the family attorney representing Jamir, about her thoughts on what police said. She asked "[Police said] the kids were wearing ski masks?" When told yes by Tryon, she said "OK."
Officers said a man called an apartment manager to alert them about what was going on. While on the call, police said three teens approached him. Officers said the man was in fear and shot one of them.
"The last time I checked, it was illegal to shoot someone without proper authority to do so," Cole said.
KXAN talked to criminal defense attorney Ben Gergen, who is not connected to the case, about why charges were likely not filed against the shooter.
"Approaching someone who doesn't know them, who doesn't know they're just kids being kids, would a reasonable person in his position at 3:30 a.m., in this apartment complex when kids walk up to them, would a reasonable person be afraid?" Gergen said.
"I deserve justice for my son," Moore said. "He's been suffering a lot and he was just a kid, doing what kids do."
Police said the man who fired the gun has fully cooperated with officers through multiple interviews.
APD said the case remains open.
Below is the full statement from Austin police about the incident:
On July 19, 2024, at approximately 3:35 a.m., Austin police officers responded to a report of gunshots at the 8200 block of North FM 620 Road, Austin, Travis County, Texas. Upon arrival, officers discovered a juvenile with a gunshot wound and provided immediate medical assistance. The injured juvenile was transported to the hospital by Austin-Travis County EMS (A/TCEMS).
During the investigation, it was found that a Hispanic male noticed three individuals dressed in dark clothing, carrying 8 to 10-inch-long tactical-style flashlights, looking into vehicles and attempting to open car doors. The Hispanic male reported this to the apartment manager, and while on the call, the three individuals approached him. The male was alone, in fear, and subsequently shot one of the subjects who was dressed in a black hoodie, wearing gloves, and a ski mask.
Interviews with the three individuals revealed that they were not residents of the apartment complex. Two individuals claimed they were at the complex to meet a friend.
The Hispanic male has cooperated and participated in multiple interviews with APD detectives. After a thorough investigation, the facts of this case were presented to the Travis County District Attorney’s office. No charges have been filed at this time, and the case remains open.
Austin Police Department
KXAN will keep you updated on any new developments.
