Teen With Water Gun Shot Dead By NYC Correction Officer: Cops, Report

NEW YORK CITY — A Bronx teen having a water gun fight on a hot summer night was shot and killed by an off-duty correction officer, according to police and a report.

Dion Middleton, 45, faces murder and manslaughter charges after the shooting early Thursday that left Raymond Chaluisant, 18, dead, NYPD officials said.

Chaluisant had been shooting a toy water gun from a car in a playful fight with his friends, the New York Daily News first reported. The toy itself was an "Orbeez" air rifle that shoots gel water beads, resembles a pistol and is illegal to possess in the city, according to the report.

“They were just having fun,” Chaluisant's older sister told the Daily News, the report states. “It’s a new nerf gun that shoots water. The whole neighborhood was having a water gun fight. It was 90 degrees."

Police officials couldn't confirm those details to Patch, but said the circumstances behind the shooting remain under investigation.

But despite police officials' claims they had no information, hours after the shooting the NYPD's official Twitter account posted a message about "Bead Blasters" water guns hours telling New Yorkers that the air rifles are a "violation" in the city. The post didn't mention the Bronx shooting, but Twitter users quickly made the connection.

"(You) all killed a kid and then a few hours later tweeted this," tweeted @PplsCityCouncil. "F--- you."

"Huh. Interesting timing for this post," @MarieThearose tweeted.

"NYPD now blaming the child," tweeted @ny_indivisible. "Not shocking but sickening."

"Why bother with all the paperwork when you can just execute violators in the street instead," tweeted @JerryStillman.

"Does a Class C Summons mean summary execution?" @Matthew_Spicer tweeted.

The incident unfolded about 1:35 a.m., when police responded to a 911 call of a man shot near Grand Concourse and East Tremont, authorities said.

Officers found Chaluisant unconscious with a gunshot wound to his face, police said.

Medics rushed Chaluisant to Saint Barnabas Hospital, where doctors pronounced him deceased, authorities said.

Police, after further investigation, believe the original shooting actually unfolded about a half-mile away near the southeast corner of the Cross Bronx Expressway and Morris Avenue, where they found a single shell casing, authorities said.

They eventually linked Middleton to the shooting and arrested him at an NYPD shooting range, where he worked in training, the Daily News reported.