ICE fired seven times into a car. A 5-year-old was in it.

Officers who arrest people for the government shot a man in his car in New York yesterday. A boy about kindergarten age was in the car with him. The boy was not hurt and a relative came for him, and the man is alive. The mayor is asking hard questions, and the grown-ups have it.

Why it worksShielded: a six-year-old takes one vivid feature, a boy their own age in that car, for the whole event, so the script settles that first: not hurt, a relative came. No neck, no seven rounds, no masks. The mayor asking questions is the adult on their side. Expect “was the boy scared?” Probably, and he is with his family now.

Also written for 8–12 and 13–17.

Two plainclothes federal officers walked up to a car in Marble Hill with a gun out, the commissioner says, as the driver parked. He pulled forward. They fired seven rounds and one hit him below the ear. He lived, the boy with him was not hurt, and the city camera missed the shots: a call with no replay.

Why it worksThis age is working out cause and effect and whether rules were followed, so the script runs the chain in order: the walk-up, the car moving, seven rounds, the camera that missed the shot. The missing replay is the mechanism they know from sport. Expect “who was right?” We don’t know yet. Say so.

Also written for 5–7 and 13–17.

Why shoot if he was parking? The commissioner says plainclothes officers came up, gun drawn, he pulled forward, they fired seven times. DHS says an officer “discharged his weapon”. Second: the mayor says they wore masks. If you can’t tell who has the gun, what then?

Why it worksA teenager can hold two accounts of the same minute, the commissioner’s and DHS’s, and notice what each leaves out. The mask question asks them to reason from the driver’s seat. Expect “was he a criminal?” DHS says a theft conviction and prior arrests. Say that, ask what it licenses, and let them push back.

Also written for 5–7 and 8–12.