Family upset police shot teen with Asperger’s

Calumet City police on Wednesday shot to death a 15-year-old boy suffering from Asperger’s syndrome after he threatened officers with a knife, authorities said.

Danelene Powell-Watts, the mother of Stephon Watts, said she called police to their Calumet City home after the teenager became upset and did not want to go to school. A person with Asperger often has normal or high intelligence but struggles with social skills.

The boy’s relatives are expressing anger at police for the shooting.

“The way they did it, they didn’t have to shoot him,” she said.

Calumet City Police Chief Edward Gilmore said police were frequently called to the Watts home to deal with Stephon Watts, who he said was “very strong and liked to fight with police.”

Gilmore said five officers went to the home Wednesday, and found the boy in the basement, holding a kitchen knife. He said two of the officers went to the basement, where the teen “lashed out” with the knife, cutting a forearm of one officer.

“At that time, cornered and having no way to retreat back up the stairs, the officers fired one shot each, striking the (boy) twice,” Gilmore said, adding the officers thought their lives were in jeopardy.

The officer who was cut was treated on the scene by paramedics, Gilmore said.

According to Gilmore, police have been called to the home 12 times since June 2010, almost always to deal with the boy and domestic issues involving him. He said the boy wielded knives before, and officers on one occasion used a Taser to subdue him.

The two officers who shot Stephon have been placed on paid administrative leave until an Illinois State Police investigation is completed, Gilmore said.

Stephon’s family said they were shocked officers had to resort to shooting the boy.

“If the policemen had never been out to the house, I can understand that because they don’t know the situation,” said Wayne Watts, the boy’s uncle. “It seems to me they would have known how to deal with the child because they knew him. To shoot the child, to shoot him. It’s just too much. He’s gone. ... They knew he was sick.”

Powell-Watts said she had trusted that police would not hurt her son, especially because “they know he is sick and they are trained to deal with someone that is sick.”