Inquiry begins after US boy with toy gun shot dead

A 12-year-old boy carrying a replica gun has been shot dead by a police officer in the US, raising fresh questions about the way America deals with violent crime.

The boy, Tamir Rice, was holding an air pistol - or BB gun - when he was challenged by an Ohio police officer and then shot at least once in the stomach on Sunday.

A lawyer for the family said the boy died yesterday.

Samaria Rice, the boy's mother, told a local TV station that her son had gone to a recreation centre across the street from their home in Cleveland with friends and his older sister.

Police officers said they were investigating the circumstances of the shooting.

They said they were responding to an emergency call, which described a male brandishing a weapon.

According to a recording, the caller expressed doubts that the gun was real.

"There's a guy in here with a pistol," he said. "It's probably fake but he's like pointing it at everybody."

The caller added: "I don't know if it's real or not".

Jeff Follmer, Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association president, said the responding officers were not made aware the caller had described the gun as "probably fake".

"Besides we have to assume every gun is real," he said.

The boy did not make any verbal threats toward the officer or point the gun, but reached into his waistband and grabbed it after being told to raise his hands, said Ed Tomba, the deputy Cleveland police chief.

"That's when the officer fired," he said.

The two officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.

- Telegraph Group Ltd, AP