Twelve-year-old Jeffrey Edmerson has never so much as handled a gun - but he had one pointed at his head.

        It happened at twilight. He was walking home from basketball practice in the West End. From out of the shadows two men exited a car and came at him fast from behind. They were shouting. One had a gun. And even over the music pouring out of his headphones, Jeffrey heard what they yelled.

        "Police!"

        In an instant, Jeffrey says he was lifted off the ground and spun face first into a chain-link fence. The headphones popped off.

        His arms were jerked behind him around the backpack containing his gym clothes. A gun was pointed at his head.

        Now, a year later, he cringes, touching a spot at the back of his neck where he says the officer's gun made contact.

        "I thought they were going to shoot me," he says in stops and starts. "They took my CD player. I kept thinking something bad was going to happen. I didn't know what to do. I remember them saying, ŚWe got the person.' "

        But Cincinnati officers did not. On that February 2001 night, police were searching for an armed juvenile wanted for aggravated robbery, and officers thought Jeffrey matched the suspect's description.

        Jeffrey was an A-student at Clark Montessori School, a carefree kid whose biggest concern was what team would make the Final Four. But at that moment, he became one of eight kids aged 12 to 15 that officers have pulled guns on in cases of mistaken identities since 1997.

        Police handcuffed Jeffrey and held him until the robbery victim told officers they had the wrong person, then they released him.

        Jeffrey's mother says the incident has affected everything about him.

        "My son, he is not even the same person," says Donna Poole, a jobs counselor. She says Jeffrey's grades have slipped, he's lost sleep, developed stomach trouble and become withdrawn.

        She says police officers treated her son like a thug.

        "Just because we live in the ghetto doesn't mean we are ghetto," Ms. Poole says. "You know, one slip of the finger, and that officer would have taken an innocent life."

        Police officials say that Officer Joe Milek followed proper procedures.

        Sgt. Maris Herold, who met with Jeffrey, his mother and his aunt a month after the incident, says the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop and search Jeffrey. He says the officer thought he was approaching an armed robber, and that is why he drew his weapon.

        "Officer Milek stated he displayed his firearm because he perceived what he interpreted to be a serious physical threat of serious harm to himself," Sgt. Herold says in a final report on the incident. "I believe the above reasons justify Jeffrey being stopped at gunpoint."

        Jeffrey's aunt and mother question why police were allowed to close the case without any outside review. They also dispute a police report that says the incident was closed and everyone was satisfied.

        "How could we be?" both ask.

        They ask Jeffrey how he feels about the officer who stopped him. He bites his lip, ducks his head and won't look up.

        "I just ain't going to say it." he says. "It's not nice."

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