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A Mother Of Man Shot & Killed By Cleveland Police Says Her Son Brought It On Himself & Does Not Blame Cops

A Mother Of Man Shot & Killed By Cleveland Police Says Her Son Brought It On Himself & Does Not Blame Cops

Photo Source: WOIO

Often times we hear stories of cops shooting suspects with hands up, or the suspect had no weapon.  We’ve even heard of suspects fighting cops and then have their relatives say, ” He/she didn’t have to shoot them.  Cops sometimes have to make life or death decisions and have their own families to think of within split second decisions.

However, a mother of a victim says she does not blame the cops and the cops had to protect themselves and do what they had to do.

It’s rather refreshing to see a mother keep it 100% and not point the finger when in fact her child was out of order.  This is not always the case that the cops get it right but in this case, the cop was absolutely right.

See what was reported by The Maven:

A Cleveland man was shot by police on Wednesday after he pointed a gun at officers. Now his mother says that she does not blame the police for her son’s death.

Cyrida Levinson said her son carried two guns every day, and sold drugs, in a poignant interview she gave to WOIO on Thursday morning, after she identified her son’s body for the police.

The mother of Antonio Levinson, age 33, said she’d told him she didn’t want to have to identify his body on Saturday, the last time she saw her son, as she again urged him to leave the street lifestyle.

“I told my son I’m not trying to identify your body. Here it is Wednesday, I’m identifying my son’s body. That’s a message right there,” the mother said.

She said she does not blame the police for her eldest son’s death.

“It’s not their fault. They were doing their jobs. They had to do what they had to do. My son pulled the gun on them. So that’s what happened. They had to do what they had to do to protect themselves,” Cyrida said.

She said her son thought he was “invincible,” that he couldn’t die.

“But look where you’re at now. You’re not even with me. You’re gone. You’re in a morgue, with a tag on your foot,” she said. “I can’t bring my son back.”

“I didn’t want it to end like this. I wanted to hear my son’s laugh… October 25th 2017 is when my son’s life was taken from him, because he was being real ignorant. And I’m sorry to say that. And I love my son. But there’s nothing I can do. I can’t bring him back,” Cyrida stayed calm, but determined, through the interview.

She had a message for all the other young people in their community.

“I cannot even describe how I feel, and what I seen last night of my son,” she said, referring to having to identify her son’s body at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office.

“Please put these guns down. Take it from a mother that knows… It’s not worth losing your life running from the police, shooting at the police. You’ve got families…My son was a street person. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth your life. Trust me,” she said.

“You’re invincible to your friends – whoever carries guns – you’re invincible to your friends. You’re not invincible to the police. Because the police are trained to kill,” Cyrida said.

“And if you take your gun out, you’re going to get killed. Like my son,” she said.

Witnesses said they heard multiple gunshots on Wednesday afternoon in the Glenville neighborhood.

Cleveland Police responded and were directed to the shooters by a neighbor, according to WOIO.

The suspects ran from police, but Antonio Levinson dropped a gun as he fled.

He pulled out a second gun and pointed it at police, and the officer opened fire, shooting him.

Cleveland City Councilman Jeff Johnson from Ward 10 visited the crime scene shortly after the incident occurred.

Johnson said the neighborhood was “one of the ground zeros in the city,” and that children were playing outside in the area at the time of the shooting.

“I need more police over here… I need to get more people involved in the restorations of the neighborhood,” he said.

Antonio Levinson was transported to University Hospitals where he was pronounced dead.

Police recovered two weapons at the scene of the shooting.

Source:  The Maven

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