Police are still looking for suspects in the June 2 beating death of 17-year-old Ethan Liming in Akron, Ohio.
Akron Police Chief Stephen Mylett said during a press conference Wednesday that on the night of June 2, Liming was with three friends of the same age, driving around and shooting water pellets from Splat-R-Ball toy guns.
At least two members of the group fired water pellets in the direction of another group of four people playing basketball outside the I Promise School, Mylett said. The basketball players initially ran away, but turned back to confront the first group at their car.
A fight ensued, and Liming died at the scene, according to police.
There were assumptions made that this was a race-related incident, Mylett said. The basketball players outside the Lebron James-founded school were black. Liming is white, along with one of the friends he was with, while the other two are black.
There is nothing that we have in our possession right now, any information at all indicating race played a role in this homicide. Nothing, he said.
