Mpls. mom questions police tactics after son shot

The family of a Minneapolis man facing assault charges after being shot by police is questioning the circumstances of the weekend shooting.

Yolanda Phelps is the mother of 21-year-old Deshawn Nelson. He was shot and wounded in a confrontation with St. Paul police early Sunday morning. She says he suffered multiple gunshot wounds and remains hospitalized.

Police say Nelson was spotted getting out of a car with a handgun and that he pointed it at the officer who shot him. Nelson's mother questioned the force used by the police.

"And they shot him seven times. Come on, now. Seven?" she said. "And then the police officer said he believed he had a gun. Come on. Believed?"

Phelps said she has never seen her son with a gun and that he may have been running from police because of an unpaid ticket for riding a train without paying the fare.

Police say they found a Ruger semi-automatic handgun in a yard near where Nelson was shot. He faces second-degree assault charges.