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US teen shot by police brain dead - lawyer
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-15 09:00
Kelly Swofford, a family spokeswoman and neighbor of the boy's parents, said
the boy had run away from home several times. Her 11-year-old son, Jeffery
Swofford, said Penley had said he had something planned.
"He said `I hope I die today because I don't really like my life,'" Jeffery
Swofford said.
Maurice Cotey, 13, told WKMG-TV in Orlando that he struggled with Penley over
the gun after everyone else left the classroom.
"He got me towards the closet door, he turned me around, and ... started to
point the gun at me, so I started to grab for it. And he pulled it away and then
I grabbed for it one more time, .... twisted it and I pointed it at him."
Cotey said after he put the gun to Penley's legs, the gunman kicked him into
the closet, where the two scuffled further, before Penley ran out of the
classroom.
The school went into lockdown.
From there, Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said, Penley traversed the
Milwee Middle School campus before ending up in a bathroom. By then, more than
40 officers, including SWAT and negotiators, were on scene. He refused to drop
the firearm, Eslinger said, and was shot after pointing it at a SWAT deputy.
Jeffery Swofford said Penley had been in a disagreement with someone,
allegedly over a girl. There was going to be a fight Friday, he said. "I heard a
rumor that he had a BB gun, but I didn't think he really had one," he
added.
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