Eyewitness News Everywhere has the taped interview West Memphis Officer Erik Sammis gave to police, regarding the shooting of 12 year-old DeAunta Farrow. The interview was released along with other evidence used during the investigation conducted by Arkansas State Police.

Farrow was killed June 22, 2007 in West Memphis, Arkansas outside Steeplechase Apartments, located on the corner of North 24th Street and Goodwin (now renamed "DeAunta Farrow Drive").

Sammis told investigators he thought the boy had a gun; investigators later revealed the gun was a toy. More than a month after the shooting, Sammis gave investigators his account of what happened that night.

Sammis: "It's tragic, but in my mind, it's not wrong. I did what I had to do to survive and protect my partner."

Sammis and his partner, Officer Jimmy Evans, were on a stakeout the night of June 22.

"There was very little light out there, but we saw two individuals walking and carrying what appeared to be a pistol," Sammis said.

"Both of us started screaming, 'Police, drop the gun'. I only had time to say it two times... the individual on my left started to raise the gun and point..."

"The gun kept coming up... and I pressed a shot. I shot twice... he went to the ground."

Sammis said after the shooting he approached Farrow.

"I asked him, 'Are you hit?' He said 'Yes, it's a toy gun' and that's the last thing he said."

Sammis told investigators he radioed for help, telling the dispatcher he needed an ambulance at Steeplechase Apartments.

Amateur video shows an ambulance arrived and the investigation into the incident began. Sammis told investigators when he fired the fatal shot, he did not know Farrow was a child.

"I feel confident that any officer in the same position would have done the same thing I did," Sammis said. "It's horrible, but I stand my position."

Eyewitness News Everywhere is working to find out why Sammis' statement came in July, a month after the shooting, but have not heard back from the state agency that handled the investigation.

Both the Arkansas State Police and the U.S. Department of Justice investigated the shooting. Both agencies say there was not enough evidence to warrant the prosecution of Officer Sammis.

Correction: In the statement given to investigators by Officer Erik Sammis, Sammis asked Farrow "Are you hit?" not "Are you okay?" as previously written. We apologize for this mistake.