"You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon"
Obama: "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon"
Updated at 11:05 a.m. ET
(CBS News) President Obama spoke out for the first time on Friday about the fatal shooting of an unarmed 17-year-old African-American boy in Florida named Trayvon Martin, calling it a "tragedy."
"I can only imagine what these parents are going through," Mr. Obama said from the White House Rose Garden, "and when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids, and I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together, federal, state
Obama urges serious investigation of Florida teen killing
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday it was "absolutely imperative" that police investigate every aspect of the killing of an unarmed black teenager in Florida by a neighborhood watch captain.
Weighing into the controversial February 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin for the first time, Obama said the "tragedy" had made him think of his own two young daughters.
"My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon. 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 are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."
(Reporting By Ross Colvin; Editing by Vicki Allen)