TRENTON -- Radazz Hearns, the Trenton teen shot by police last summer after allegedly pointing a gun at officers, pleaded guilty Thursday to a weapon possession charge in connection with the incident, multiple law enforcement sources said.

Hearns was charged with aggravated assault, possession of a handgun and possession of a defaced firearm following the Aug. 7 confrontation. Authorities alleged he pointed a gun at police as he fled an arrest. He was 14 years old at the time.

Now 15, Hearns pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of a defaced firearm during a proceeding in Mercer County Superior Court's Family Division, three law enforcement officers with knowledge of the outcome said.

The officers spoke on the condition on anonymity because Family Division proceedings are closed to the public.

The shooting drew widespread attention, public protests and repeated claims on the teen's behalf that he was unarmed when a sheriff's officer and state police trooper shot him.

At one point last August, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman called for federal authorities to take over the investigation.

Hearns' lawyer has said he intends to file a civil lawsuit against the city, county and state for the injuries the teen suffered. And the case against a sheriff's officer charged with leaking the teen's mughot to the media is ongoing.

The Attorney General's office said in November that a grand jury had voted not to file criminal charges against the two police officers. The office said they took a statement from an associate of the teen who saw him throw a gun as he ran from the lawmen on Louise Lane near Calhoun Street.

The officers were responding to a report of shots fired in the area and stopped Hearns and two other young men on Louise Lane near Calhoun Street. Hearns allegedly ran from the stop, pulled a handgun from his pants and pointed it at the officers.

Investigators found the weapon about 12 hours later.

Hearns declined to provide a statement to state investigators during the investigation, officials have said.

Authorities never named Hearns, but he was identified by his lawyer and family in the days after the shooting. He recovered from multiple gunshot wounds.

The Attorney General's office had not named the officers involved in the shooting either.

They were identified through an investigative document obtained by NJ Advance Media as New Jersey State Police Detective Doug Muraglia and Mercer County Sheriff's Officer James Udijohn.

State Police Trooper Blair Astbury was the third officer present at the shooting, but he did not fire his weapon.

Hearns' family attorney, Samuel A. Anyan Jr., did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Chris Burgos, president of the State Troopers Fraternal Association, said Thursday that the guilty plea shows the officers involved acted professionally. "And the only person that did wrong in this was this young adult."

"To the protestors and anyone, like Bonnie Watson Coleman, who tried to spin this in the wrong direction regardless of the facts, they should be ashamed of themselves," Burgos charged.

In a related development, a Mercer County sheriff's officer was charged in October with illegally giving a newspaper three arrest photos of Hearns.

Christopher J. McKenna, 37, of Hamilton, is charged with wrongful access and disclosure of information, a third-degree crime. The Attorney General's Office said McKenna on or around Aug. 21 used a restricted police database to get the arrest photos of the teen.

McKenna, a sheriff's officer since 2003, provided the photos to the newspaper, The Trentonian, which published them. Juvenile records are sealed and it is illegal to disclose them.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.