State: Sheriff's deputy kills boy on Wisconsin reservation

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A sheriff's deputy fatally shot a 14-year-old boy on a Lake Superior Chippewa reservation in northern Wisconsin, its tribal chairman said today.

Bad River Band Chairman Robert Blanchard said eighth-grader Jason Pero was killed Wednesday in Odanah by an Ashland County sheriff's deputy. Blanchard said he has not heard directly from sheriff's officials about why Jason was shot and he questioned why the deputy had to take the teen's life.

"This is a tragedy that should not have happened. There's other ways to do things than to pull out a gun and shoot him," Blanchard said.

The Ashland County Sheriff's Office said its dispatchers received a call about a male subject walking down the street armed with a knife about 11:40 a.m. Wednesday. A responding deputy fired shots, striking the boy. He was treated at the scene but died at a hospital. The statement did not provide the age or name of the victim, and didn't name the deputy involved.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice was investigating the shooting and said in a statement today a knife was recovered at the scene of the shooting.

Sheriff's officials said the deputy was not injured and referred further questions on the shooting to the Department of Justice. The state justice department said it Division of Criminal Investigation continues to collect evidence and will turn over its reports to the Ashland County District Attorney's Office, hopefully within 30 days.

Blanchard said Jason came from a good family and attended Ashland Middle School, where counselors are being made available to students today to help them deal with their grief.

"It's hard to talk about it without getting emotional," the chairman said.