EXCLUSIVE: Armed take-down of boys, aged 10 & 15, a case of mistaken identity
Posted October 22, 2015 7:35 pm.
Last Updated October 22, 2015 7:51 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The typically uneventful walk home from school took a terrifying turn for two brothers in east Scarborough on Thursday after they became the unwitting victims of an armed police take-down.
Devonte Miller Blake, 15, and his 10-year-old brother, Kishwayne McCalla, were surrounded by up to seven officers pointing guns as they walked near Lawrence Avenue East and Orton Park Road.
“All of a sudden, all of them came out guns drawn saying, ‘get down on your knees, get down on your knees,’ ” explained Devonte.
“I was so terrified and I didn’t know what to do,” added Kishwayne.
Police say Devonte matched the description of another boy, aged 10, who was suspected of pulling a gun on a young girl at nearby Tecumseh Senior Public School.
“As parents we also understand how this can be perceived, but at the same time we have to understand that somewhere some 10 year old did pull out a gun and point it at a little girl’s head,” reasoned Const. Victor Kwong.
Police say they treat any gun call with the utmost seriousness, regardless of the age of the perpetrator.
But the boys’ mother, Susan Miller, thinks police took things too far.
She was alerted to her sons’ predicament by a friend who saw the take-down and called her.
“When you get a call like that you are outside yourself,” she said. “I was shaking. I was crying. I just needed answers.”
“I understand that the cops have to do their job…But I think this was a little bit excessive and I just hope that it will never happen again.”
Police say the boy they were originally seeking was eventually found carrying a silver airsoft pistol. No charges were laid because of his age.
