St. Petersburg police said an officer shot 17-year-old Javon Dawson because he challenged them and wouldn't put down his gun.

Dawson's friends said they witnessed the situation. They claim police aren't telling the whole story.

"I saw the police officer shot him right in the back on purpose," said Deon Hison, a friend of Dawson.

Hison said Dawson didn't even have a gun.

The police department said they collected evidence that shows that Dawson was shooting a gun.

St. Petersburg police said it all started at a graduation party at a Masonic lodge in St. Petersburg got loud and spilled into the street outside of the lodge. Someone called police about a large group of young adults blocking the street.

According to police, one of their officers saw Dawson shooting a gun in the middle of the street.

The officer is said to have, in their words, "verbally challenged" Dawson about it. The officer then shot and killed Dawson.

"His brother came to me and saying they shot his brother," said Dawson's girlfriend, Tina Seay. "And he came and hugged me, and I just fell to the ground. I couldn't hold myself up because it hurt me so much."

Friends of Dawson said many people at the party were firing celebratory shots in the air.

Bay News 9 tried to get St. Petersburg police on camera for this story. The department had no further comment outside the information already had provided.

Internal affairs, the homicide division and the state attorneys office are looking into the incident, which is standard operating procedure.