TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Police said a 15-year-old driver of a stolen car reversed into their patrol car, forcing officers to open fire Friday night.

Meanwhile, friends and family of Traveon John Avila and witnesses said officers rammed the car, and gave Avila no chance to surrender before firing.

In either case, Bakersfield Police continue to investigate the case that left the teenager dead and his family and friends devastated.

The incident began at about 9:20 p.m. when police attempted to stop a 2001 Acura near Cottonwood Road and Bradshaw Street for a vehicle code violation, and because they suspected the car was stolen, police said.

Avila and two passengers led the officers on a short pursuit into the neighborhood and stopped just a few blocks away at a dead end into a sloped embankment on the 1400 block of Windsor Street.

Police said as the officers exited the patrol car to approach the Acura and the suspects, the front seat passenger ran, at which point the Acura started backing toward the officers and hit the police car, police said.

Both officers fired multiple times at Avila, incapacitating him.

A 17-year-old came out of the back seat and was taken into custody. He was arrested on charges of conspiracy, auto theft and participation in a criminal street gang, police said. The third passenger that ran has not been found.

He is described as a black man, 25 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall to 6 feet tall and was wearing a white tank-type T-shirt.

Bri Gibson, a friend of Avila since elementary school, was standing on her aunt’s front lawn a few hundred feet from the scene when she saw Avila and police scream by.

She and other witnesses described the patrol car slamming into the back of Avila’s car, and shooting at Avila before he had a chance to surrender.

She screamed as she saw Avila, who friends called “Kid,” attempt to get out the car and heard officers fire shots. Family members and friends who live in the neighborhood rushed to the scene.

“I just started crying and yelling, ‘Don’t tell me Kid's dead',” Gibson said.

Avila was taken to Kern Medical Center at was pronounced dead just after 10 p.m., the coroner’s office reported. He was going to be 16 years old in a few weeks, and was going to be a sophomore at South High, family said.

Friends and family said Avila was well-mannered, hard working and outgoing. Jackie Cameron knew Avila since he was 9 years old, and hired him to work on her ice cream truck she used to own. She kept in touch with him throughout the years.

“It’s horrible for such a young life to be taken in such a sudden way,” she said. “He was a wonderful kid — so sweet, so sweet.”

Avila’s cousin John Porter, who lives in the neighborhood off of Cottonwood, said his family is “hurting.” He called Avila a “normal kid,” and not a gang member.

“Even if he was, does that give you a right to kill someone so young for no reason,” Porter said. “They didn’t even give him time to surrender.”

O.C. Vickers, who lives just 10 feet from where Avila was shot, said the boys should have known better.

“When the police come from behind with their lights on, you pull over,” he said. “I’m not going to blame the officers. (Avila and passengers) contributed to it.”

Bakersfield Sgt. Mary DeGeare said witnesses police talked to said Avila backed into officers. As for firing on the youngster, Degeare said in general officers have to react quickly if they feel threatened, and cannot consider age as a determining factor on whether or not to shoot.

“In quickly unfolding situations like this, it’s very difficult to distinguish age,” she said.

On Saturday, a makeshift memorial sat at the scene, including a small stuffed dog, a cigar and an empty bottle of Hennessy with messages left like, “We love U bra bra,” and, “U will B missed.”

Orange paint where both cars’ tires stopped are marked on the street. They show the two cars stopped nearly side-by-side. Police said the Acura was stolen during a residential burglary on June 5.

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on routine paid administrative leave. Police are not releasing their names until likely Monday, police said. The investigation is ongoing.