A family has demanded that a Mississippi police officer be fired after shooting an 11-year-old boy who was trying to follow the officer’s orders after calling 911 for help, a lawyer for the boy’s family said.

The officer shot the boy, Aderrien Murry, in the chest, resulting in numerous injuries, including a collapsed lung, lacerated liver and fractured ribs, on May 20, said Carlos Moore, a lawyer representing the Murry family.

After spending several days in the hospital and intensive care, Aderrien is home and “doing as well as he can be after being shot in the chest,” Mr. Moore said.

“Little Mr. Murry came within an inch of losing his life in the wee hours of Saturday morning because of the actions of a cop,” Mr. Moore said at a news conference this week. “He was an unarmed, young Black man who was simply following his mother’s directions.”

Aderrien’s mother, Nakala Murry, said her ex-boyfriend, the father to one of her other children, knocked on her window around 4 a.m. last Saturday and asked to be let in the home.

Once inside, he became “irate,” so Ms. Murry said she went to Aderrien’s bedroom and instructed him to call his grandmother and 911.

Officers from the Indianola Police Department responded and tried to kick down the front door before Ms. Murry let them in, she said. The officers asked if anyone was armed, and then yelled for everyone in the house to come out with their hands up.

When Aderrien rounded a corner to follow their commands, he was shot, Ms. Murry said. Mr. Moore identified the officer who fired as Greg Capers.

The Indianola Police Department, citing the ongoing investigation, declined to comment on Saturday. Indianola, which is about 100 miles north of Jackson, has a population of about 9,000 people.

The local newspaper, The Enterprise-Tocsin, reported that Officer Capers had been removed from active duty. He could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting and will share its findings with the Attorney General’s Office, NPR reported. The bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

“This can’t keep happening,” Ms. Murry said, adding that she had tried to stop the bleeding after he was shot. “My baby almost lost his life.”

Mr. Moore is pushing the authorities to release footage from body cameras and any other video that may have captured the shooting.

“This should not be a justified shooting,” he said. “This 11-year-old did nothing wrong, and there is no way a trained officer should have feared for his life when an 11-year-old approaches with no weapon.”

Jessica Jaglois contributed reporting.

McKenna Oxenden is a breaking news reporter and a member of the 2022-2023 New York Times fellowship class. @mack_oxenden

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