Report details school shooting

McALLEN -- A police sergeant gave the order to "take him out" and an armed teen was fatally shot after he turned toward another student in the hallway of a Texas middle school, according to a report released by the state attorney general.

The new report provides the most detail yet on the death of Jaime Gonzalez, 15. He was shot Jan. 4 by Brownsville police who responded to a call about a student at the school brandishing a handgun.

Texas requires police to file a report with the attorney general's office within 30 days of someone dying in police custody.

Two officers with semi-automatic rifles fired in response to the sergeant's order, and Gonzalez was hit twice, in the chest and the abdomen. He had been holding a realistic-looking pellet gun.

The report confirms officers' earlier statements that Gonzalez pointed the gun at them but also raises the possibility that he fired. The other student told investigators he believed Gonzalez had fired at police, and crime scene technicians recovered evidence that suggested Gonzalez fired at officers during an initial encounter near the school entrance.

Police said Gonzalez did not appear to be intoxicated or exhibit mental health problems, but he repeatedly ignored orders to drop his gun.

When police first peered through the school entrance and saw Gonzalez in the hall outside the office, the gun was tucked in his waistband.

At one point, Gonzalez pointed the gun at his temple and then aimed it at police. One officer fired a shot high into the glass of the school's locked door. Officers believe Gonzalez fired too before retreating down a hallway. Another student, identified only as "JG" in the report, was in a corner about 13 feet to Gonzalez's left.

Attorney Dale Kasofsky, who represents Gonzalez's parents, said Tuesday he had received little documentation of the incident. Gonzalez's parents argued immediately after the shooting that lethal force was not necessary.