Police: Teen Killed By Officer Was Unarmed
WHITFIELD: Hello again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for joining me. We're learning more about the fatal police shooting of an unarmed teen in Madison, Wisconsin. An officer responding to a disturbance call opened fire after police say 19-year-old Tony Robinson assaulted him. According to public records, Robinson pleaded guilty to armed robbery in December of last year. And the police chief says the officer, a 12-year department veteran, Matt Kenney, had used deadly force before. Our Rosa Flores is live for us now in Madison, Wisconsin. So Rosa, what more about this investigation and why is so much being brought up about the past of both the officer and the victim?</s>FLORES: You know, if you just look behind me, Fred, it's very telling because this is almost day two and you can see that there's still crime scene, where this incident happened. Take a look, you see that there are Madison police here, guarding the crime scene and there are actually investigators inside of this house, very telling given the fact that it's been almost 48 hours. This community has been angry, has been in fear, and they are asking for justice.</s>FLORES (voice-over): Hundreds of demonstrators hit the streets of Madison, Wisconsin -- following the shooting death of an unarmed 19- year-old at the hands of police.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to just let them know that I'm there.</s>FLORES: Tony Terrell Robinson's mother devastated and overcome by emotion.</s>ANDREA IRWIN, VICTIM'S MOTHER: My son has never been a violent person, never, and to die in such a violent, violent way.</s>FLORES: Police paint a different picture of her son, scanner traffic capturing the dramatic the chain of events.</s>UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Look for a male black light skin.</s>FLORES: Police say they received several calls about Robinson Friday evening, first about the teen jumping in and out of traffic and dodging cars.</s>UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: A call for the same suspect.</s>FLORES: Then about an alleged battery incident.</s>UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Tried to strangle another patron.</s>FLORES: The situation escalating when Robinson entered what families say is his best friend's house. Officer Matt Kenny arrived, heard a commotion inside and forced his way in according to police. Officials say Robinson attacked Officer Kenny who then fired the deadly shots. Kenny suffered a blow to the head. Robinson was administered CPR at the scene, but later died at the hospital.</s>CHIEF MIKE KOVAL, MADISON POLICE: He was unarmed and that's going to make this all the more complicated for the investigators, for the public, to accept, to understand that deadly force had to be used.</s>FLORES: This is not the first time the 45-year-old officer used lethal force. Kenny was exonerated for an incident that took place almost eight years ago, a fact that doesn't sit well with Robinson's family and friends.</s>LORIEN CARTER, TONY ROBINSON'S AUNT: He was a beautiful, beautiful young man. He stood 6'4", 200 pounds.</s>FLORES: Robinson's aunt and grandmother speaking out not buying the account from police.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are not speaking the cop shot him because he was afraid of him.</s>FLORES: Protesters calling Robinson's killing their Ferguson.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hurt. I'm frustrated, I'm angry.</s>FLORES: As another family faces an all too familiar anguish, the community deals with an all too familiar question. Was the use of deadly force necessary?</s>FLORES: And as we take another live look, you can see a small memorial here, a sign of the solidarity of this community for Robinson and for his family. Now one of the things that I want to point out, Fred, is that as you have seen Madison Police officers behind me, their police cruisers, you might be wondering why are they at the crime scene. They are only protecting the crime scene. Because in the state of Wisconsin, by law, when there's an officer involved shooting, the department doesn't get to investigate itself. The investigation is in the hands of the DOJ -- Fred.</s>WHITFIELD: So Rosa, this was a friend's house, does that mean that there were witnesses inside the home with Robinson to see what happened just prior to the gun going off?</s>FLORES: You know, this -- family members do tell us that this is his best friend's house that he used to hang out here all the time with his friends. One of the witnesses told us she was next door and she heard the scuffle, and she heard the gun shots. We're actually going to bring you that shortly in a few hours, but she describes the scene, very chaotic, a very thin wall between her home and the home where these shots were fired and she's going to explain what was going through her mind when she was hearing the scuffle. She explains that these kids, as she calls them, these 19-year-olds, they were good kids, like any other 19-year-olds, sometimes they would be horsing around playing, but never drugs or alcohol, she mentioned, that they were good kids and that they were her next door neighbors.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, very confusing situation. Rosa Flores, thanks so much. We look forward to your next report with that account as well. All right, still ahead, live coverage of the Bloody Sunday commemoration march continues, CNN's Ryan Young is in Selma, Alabama. Huge crowds yesterday and it looks even bigger today -- Ryan.</s>RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The crowds here are enormous. You can see all the people that have filled the streets, thousands of them coming here. We'll have a live report. How people feel coming back here for Bloody Sunday 50 years later.