Grandparents: Teen was home with flu before deputy fired
Updated: 4:35 p.m. | Posted: 2:22 p.m.
The grandparents of a Wisconsin eighth-grader fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy say the teen had left school with the flu that morning.
An Ashland County sheriff's deputy shot 14-year-old Jason Pero on Wednesday on the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation.
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Investigators say deputies were responding to a call about a male subject walking down the street with a knife late Wednesday morning. No information has been released about what led up to the shooting.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating but a spokeswoman declined comment Friday.
Pero's grandparents tell The Associated Press that Jason lived with them and had come home from school early with the flu.
They say an uncle was downstairs doing laundry when Jason left the house. They don't know why he left.
The grandfather says Jason "wouldn't hurt a fly."
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the grandfather's account of the teen's leaving the house. The above copy has been corrected.