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AUtah teenager who was shot three times by police over the weekend has been identified as 17-year-old Abdi Mohamed.

According to Fox13 Utah, the incident happened Saturday evening when Salt Lake City police responded to a fight between Mohamed and two other people near a homeless shelter. The teenager reportedly picked up a broken broomstick during the altercation as police arrived at the scene. Police claim they ordered Mohamed to drop the object, but he tried to hit one of the officers, leading them to fire their weapons.

He was shot three times, once in the leg and twice in the chest.

Witnesses claim Mohamed never tried to hit the officers with the broomstick and wasn’t given a chance to drop the object before the police drew their guns.

Via Fox13 Utah:

“The police said, ‘drop it’, once, then they shot him,” friend Selam Mohammed said. “We were trying to break it up before the police even came, but the police ran in on foot and pulled their guns out already.

Mohamed was taken to a local hospital, where he is currently listed in critical condition and reportedly in a coma. After the incident, citizens took to the streets to condemn the shooting. Over 100 officers patrolled the streets, some wearing riot gear, to dissuade protesters. Det. Greg Wilking of the Salt Lake City Police Department told reporters details of the shooting were limited, but the officers involved were wearing body cameras.

“I don’t have much details on the shooting itself,” said Det. Greg Wilking of the Salt Lake City Police Department, adding later, “That’s what it sounds like: There was an altercation taking place, and our officers intervened into that altercation.”

A press release later claimed the teen was holding a metal object, but witnesses insist it was a broomstick.

Fox13 Utah reports:

According to a press release from the Salt Lake City Police Department issued Sunday afternoon, officers witnessed two males with metal objects attacking a male victim around 8 p.m. in the area of 300 South Rio Grande Street.

The release states, “Officers confronted the two suspects and ordered them to drop the weapons. One of the males complied and dropped the weapon, the other continued to advance on the victim and was shot by officers.”

Mohamed moved to America 10 years ago from Kenya and lived with his girlfriend Becca Monson and their child. The Unified Police Department will investigate the shooting.

The officers involved have yet to be identified.

SOURCE: FOX13 Utah | VIDEO CREDIT: Inform, Twitter

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Salt Lake City Teenager Shot By Police While Holding Broomstick  was originally published on newsone.com