Obama weighs in on Trayvon Martin shooting - Vancouver Sun

U.S. President Barack Obama weighed in on the growing furore over the shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin Friday, using his experiences as a black parent to call for a thorough investigation into the case.

"When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids," Obama said, in his first words on an incident that has reignited the debate on race relations in America. "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."

The death of 17-year-old Trayvon last month has led to outrage across the U.S. after his killer, George Zimmer-man, used controversial Florida self-defence laws to avoid prosecution.

Obama, who as America's first black president has always shown a reluctance to play the "race" card, pointedly sent his sympathies to the Martin family, describing the killing as a "tragedy" that should lead to national "soul searching."

"My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin," Obama said.

"And I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."

Trayvon was killed in Sanford, Fla, as he returned to his father's home from a store where he had bought a packet of candy and some ice tea.

Zimmerman had a history of calling police to his mainly white gated community, and when he dialed 911 he claimed that he had seen a suspicious person who was "probably on drugs." Police told him not to follow the suspect, but Zimmerman did not obey.

A girlfriend who was on the phone to Trayvon - who was wearing a hoodie - says she heard him being shoved to the ground. Neighbours heard screams for help before a shot rang out.

Obama signalled the need for further debate about Florida's Republican-backed and hugely permissive "Stand Your Ground" gun laws, which have seen the number of "justifiable homicides" from self-defence shootings almost triple since it was introduced in 2005.

Even as the president was speaking, protests were growing over the failure of police to arrest Zimmerman.

In Miami, hundreds of schoolchildren walked out of classes in protest, chanting: "I am Trayvon Martin." An online petition has attracted nearly 1.5 million signatures. Pro-testers say it was unacceptable for Zimmerman to attack an unarmed teenager he had been told by police not to follow.

In his remarks, Obama appeared to suggest that "Stand Your Ground" should be reviewed.

"I think every parent in America should be able to under-stand why it is absolutely imperative to investigate every aspect of this and that every-body pulls together - federal, state and local - to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened," he said. "I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen.

"And that means we examine the laws, the context for what happened, as well as the specifics of the incident."

Zimmerman's whereabouts is unknown. His father has denied that he is racist, and says that Zimmerman's mother is His-panic, and so he is also of an ethnic minority background.