13-year-old using iPad killed when bullets tear through home’s window, Alabama cops say
UPDATE: The Tuscaloosa Police Department said Sunday night that 18-year-old James Deanthony Reed has been “charged with capital murder” in the shooting death of the 13-year-old, identified as Kei’lan Allen. Police said they believe Reed was “targeting one of Kei’lan’s older family members.” Reed is being held with no bond.
“This is an ongoing and active investigation, and we expect to make additional arrests soon,” police said.
ORIGINAL: An Alabama teenager was killed when bullets tore into his bedroom on Friday night, police said.
The 13-year-old was sitting in his room using his iPad when gunshots fired at the home tore through the window and “ended his life,” according to a news release from the Tuscaloosa Police Department.
“The parents and family of a 13-year-old boy had to stand across the street and watch paramedics drive the ambulance away after realizing there was nothing they could do,” police said.
There were “so many shell casings in the road” outside of the home, according to police, that responding officers had to use business cards from their wallets as temporary evidence markers.
Investigators were working Saturday to identify “persons of interest” in the shooting, police said. The name of the teen killed was not released.
Anyone with information is asked to call 205-349-2121, 205-464-8690, to make a report anonymously at 205-752-7867 or to message the police department on Facebook, police said.
No other information about the case had been released as of Sunday afternoon including a motive for the shooting.
Tuscaloosa is located about 60 miles southwest of Birmingham and about 100 miles northwest of Montgomery.
This story was originally published October 17, 2021 at 1:05 PM with the headline "13-year-old using iPad killed when bullets tear through home’s window, Alabama cops say."
