NEW YORK — Camden Lee was finishing practice for his high school football team in September when a startling image caught his eye. It was plastered across the social media platforms of the New York Police Department, and it would soon change his life dramatically. In a clear surveillance snapshot, the 15-year-old is depicted alone, dressed in a hoodie and shorts, his gaze lowered on a Brooklyn street. The accompanying message from the authorities labeled him as a “suspect wanted for murder” in connection with a shooting at the West Indian American Day parade, which left one person dead and four injured.

“I saw the NYPD logo, then I saw myself, under the caption ‘suspect wanted for murder,’” Lee recounted, disbelief washing over him. “I couldn’t comprehend what was happening, and then everything started to blur.”

However, behind closed doors, the police began to backtrack almost immediately. After consulting with Lee and his attorney, they opted not to file charges against him and promptly removed his image from their social media accounts. Yet, they have yet to publicly address this retraction, overlooking numerous requests from Lee and his mother, who assert that their safety continues to be jeopardized by this mistaken identity.

The family’s plight has spawned questions regarding the NYPD’s procedures for remedying misinformation, particularly amid a broader scrutiny of the department’s social media practices. Lee’s mother, Chee Chee Brock, expressed her dismay, stating, “I used to trust the NYPD and their processes. However, if they can label an innocent child a murderer, what else might they get away with?”

Delaney Kempner, the newly appointed chief spokesperson for the department, acknowledged the issue but failed to answer a list of inquiries or provide substantial details.

It remains uncertain how Lee was marked as a suspect in the first place. On the day of the shooting, he briefly attended the annual Labor Day celebration with a teammate, shortly after football practice. Within minutes, gunfire rang out, injuring his friend. Lee explained that the surveillance image depicted him in shock, having just witnessed his friend being carried away on a stretcher amid the chaos.

Upon the release of the image on September 19, Lee’s mother promptly sought legal assistance from Kenneth Montgomery, who proposed a meeting with homicide detectives that same evening. However, the detectives requested that they come to the 77th precinct the following week. During that encounter, according to both Montgomery and Lee’s mother, the detectives admitted that Lee was not a suspect.

“They admitted their mistake,” Montgomery pointed out. “Yet, the officers appeared indifferent, as if they were trivializing a child’s life.”

Meanwhile, the NYPD’s communications division had already circulated Lee’s photograph widely to various media outlets, requesting public assistance in locating the unnamed suspect. Recently, a senior department official urged some media to refrain from using Lee’s image in subsequent stories regarding the shooting, according to shared text messages. However, those discussions were kept “off the record,” thus preventing news organizations from explaining the image’s removal.

Without official clarification, the photo continued to circulate, leading to a torrent of death threats directed towards Lee from online investigators who managed to track down his social media profiles. Preparing for school, he perused an Instagram account boasting 750,000 followers, reading through menacing comments. One read, “He about to get found quick,” while another ominously stated, “He done.” Lee expressed sympathy for the victims, including Denzel Chan, 25, who tragically lost his life in the shooting, saying, “They deserve answers too.”

After the shooting incident, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell suggested that the violence was gang-related and described an entirely different suspect—a slim individual in his twenties wearing a paint-stained brown shirt and a bandana—while Lee was clearly dressed differently in the released photograph.

Due to fears of potential gang retaliation, Brock, a single mother employed by the post office, relocated her children to a relative’s home outside the city. As a result, Lee missed weeks of academic work, which significantly impacted his academic performance. Despite the fact that the family has returned to Brooklyn, Brock keeps a close watch on her son’s movements, forbidding him to go out alone.

“As a mother, my greatest fear is losing my children to the streets or incarceration,” Brock said, emphasizing the constraints now imposed on her children. “He no longer has the same freedom. When he heads to the corner store, I keep track of time.”

The family is acutely aware that this mistaken identification coincided with a tumultuous period for the NYPD. Between the shooting and the image being released, federal authorities seized phones from Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who subsequently resigned, admitting that the investigation had become a “distraction for the department.”

“There’s immense pressure on the NYPD to deliver results in high-profile cases like this,” remarked Wylie Stecklow, a civil rights attorney representing the family as they contemplate a potential lawsuit. “Their failure to explain how this error occurred and what measures they will take to prevent future incidents raises significant concerns.”

As the NYPD strives to mend its reputation, its communication strategies are also under scrutiny. A recent investigation by the city’s Department of Investigation criticized certain executives within the department for “irresponsible and unprofessional” conduct on social media and urged the NYPD to formalize its policies around the deletion of public posts, similar to other city agencies.

Earlier, Chell mistakenly identified a judge in a different social media post, claiming he allowed a predator back into the community; that post was also erased. In December, as interest in Lee’s story began to wane, police announced an increase in the reward for information about the shooting to $10,000 but refrained from distributing Lee’s photo this time.

Despite this, many news outlets continued to run the old image of him, perpetuating its presence on the internet, even appearing on top of certain news articles. “Seeing that photo again brought back all the initial panic,” Lee stated. “My mom was just beginning to consider letting me use the train.”

Recently, he has felt the stares and whispers from people in his neighborhood and within his school. Considered cutting his hair or purchasing new clothes in a bid to go unnoticed, he often weighs the option of staying home instead. “It plunges me into a dark space,” Lee confessed. “I no longer recognize myself. I don’t get the chance to share my side of the story; everyone is fixated on this single image of me: a murderer.”