Family, friends mourn over death of teen killed by police

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By Olivia Fecteau – COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Candles, and signs demanding justice for the teenager can be seen outside of a park, near the site of Wednesday's shooting.

A couple hundred people attended a vigil Thursday night for Tyre King, 13, who died after a police-involved shooting.

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"This does not feel right," one woman said. "This is not good and there are too many people hurting."

Words of grief poured out for King at the vigil.

"[He's] not coming back," King's sister said.

Crowds gathered at the park off East Broad and South 18th Streets on the east side

"It's sad, man, just really sad," said Micheal Bell, the coach of King's community football team. "He was a kid, a little boy."

Members of the football team, the Columbus Day Stars, stood by as Bell spoke during the vigil.

"He wasn't a bad kid," Bell said. "He wasn't a kid running around on robberies. He was a kid looking for positive programs. He was a kid smiling and happy with life."

A member of the community group People's Justice Project expressed anger at what happened Wednesday.

"It is never the people's fault when they get murdered by the state," he said.

Adrienne Hood, the mother of Henry Green, also spoke. Green was killed earlier this year in a police-involved shooting.

"All lives do matter," Hood said. "But our lives matter too."

Thursday's vigil was organized by several local community groups, including State of the Community and People's Justice Project.

Tammy Fournier-Alsaada, with the People's Justice Project, said they are here to mourn together, but also to push forward to find solutions in addressing violence and police-community relations.

"What I think has to shift is the police have to be serious about getting into a relationship understanding our culture understanding the issues we face and as it pertains to our young people," she said. "We are here today to say enough is enough. It's unacceptable. We cannot keep experiencing these levels of violence."