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On 22 July, 45-year-old Dion Middleton, a New York Corrections officer, was arraigned in connection to the death of 18-year-old Raymond Chaluisant.
According to a report by the New York Attorney general, the encounter is believed to have taken place in the Bronx on July 21, when Dion Middleton allegedly shot at a vehicle carrying Raymond Chaluisant, striking the teenager in the face.
After the arrival of first responders, Chaluisant was transported to a hospital, where he died of his wounds.
According to CBS, after the shooting, Middleton left the scene and went to work as a corrections officer. There, he was arrested by NYPD officers. Middleton was charged with murder in the second degree and manslaughter in the first and second degree.
Why did Dion Middleton allegedly shoot Raymond Chaluisant?
According to the New York Post, Dion Middleton reportedly fired at Raymond Chaluisant's vehicle after a brief encounter. Middleton's defense claimed that he shot Chaluisant, whose body was recovered with a toy water-pellet gun, because the corrections officer believed the teenager was armed with a real weapon.
As per Middleton's defense attorney, Joey Jackson, Middleton fired at the teen after he felt a "stinging in his back", which is believed to have been a pellet from the toy gun.
The defence claims Jackson acted under the impression that the gun was real. In Bronx Criminal Court, he said:
“I’m trying to provide context. That context would suggest to the court that at the time my client discharged a single round, he was doing so under the belief that he was in immediate fear of death of his life."
In an official statement made by the Corrections Officer Benevolent Organization, a union that Dion Middleton belongs to, President Benny Boscio also reinforced the idea that the shooting was in self defense.
The union leader said that a toy gun could easily be mistaken for a real one, and that it was understandable if Middleton believed he was under threat.
He said:
“Toy guns no longer resemble toys, as the images of this water pistol demonstrate and they remain an ongoing threat to public safety. We will provide Officer Middleton with the best possible representation to ensure that his legal rights are protected.”
Jackson believed that Chaluisant may have fired the water pellet gun because of a TikTok challenge, in which teenagers reportedly fire toy guns at strangers.
He said:
“Let’s call it what it is, a weapon. It looks real and it’s a weapon that shoots pellets which tend to hurt."
He continued:
“This is all the rage on TikTok and I think a lot more young people are going to have significant issues in the event that they continue to use it."
Dion Middleton is currently being held on a $1 million bond. In an online statement, the NYPD confirmed that the water-pellet pistol involved in the case is legally defined as an air-rifle, making it illegal in New York City.
