MPD police shot and killed a man with a BB gun Tuesday afternoon in the 2400 block of Elvans Road SE. He was initially conscious and taken to a hospital, but pronounced dead there, according to police reports.

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Police Chief Cathy Lanier said officers with the Gun Recovery Unit confronted an adult male with a gun. An officer or officers fired on the suspect after the situation escalated. The suspect was struck at least once.

The suspect was identified as 18-year-old Rafael Briscoe of Southeast.

Lanier on Wednesday said the weapon the suspect pulled out was a BB gun. She said she has seen the gun and there was no way, under similar circumstances, that officers could have known it wasn’t a real gun.

The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on leave.

Witnesses said the shooting episode started in the Forrest Ridge Apartment complex. They described the victim as a "good kid."