Thursday, October 09, 2014

Another Ferguson? Tempers Flare As Cop Kills African American Youth
Crowds protest the killing of St. Louis youth by police.
Protests erupted in St. Louis after an off duty police officer shot and killed an armed teen who the officer says fired shots at him.

Tribune News Service 10:17 a.m. EDT October 9, 2014

The killing led to an angry demonstration, with some protesters likening it to the Aug. 9 killing of an unarmed black teen Michael Brown by white officer Darren Wilson in nearby Ferguson

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Authorities said today that a off-duty St. Louis police officer shot and killed a black 18-year-old who fired at him Wednesday night. The officer's race wasn't immediately disclosed, but CNN reported that he is white.
The man's relatives say that what the officer saw was a sandwich not a gun.
The teen was shot at 17 times; the officer wasn't hurt.
Hundreds and neighbors and others gathered; no one was arrested.

ST. LOUIS – Another fatal police shooting of a teenager in Missouri, this time in south St. Louis, led to hours of protests overnight Wednesday and into this morning as an angry crowd gathered after news spread across social media.

Authorities said today that a off-duty St. Louis police officer shot and killed a black 18-year-old who fired at him Wednesday night. The officer wasn't injured and his race wasn't immediately disclosed, but CNN reported that he is white. The killing led to an angry demonstration, with some protesters likening it to the Aug. 9 killing of an unarmed black teen Michael Brown by white officer Darren Wilson in nearby Ferguson.

St. Louis Police Chief Col. Sam Dotson said the 32-year-old officer, whom he didn't identify, was patrolling a neighborhood in his police uniform for a private security company around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. One of the males started to run away but stopped. The officer did a U-turn and then all three ran. The officer drove through streets following them, and then he got out and chased them on foot.

Assistant Police Chief Alfred Adkins said the teen the officer was chasing jumped from some bushes and struggled with the officer. Dotson said a physical confrontation escalated into gunfire, Dotson said.

Dotson said that at one point, the suspect's shirt raised and the officer saw what he thought was a gun.

"The officer said he wanted to be certain it was a gun and did not fire at that point," he said.

The chief also said the teen had a gun and fired at least three shots at the officer, who returned fire. Dotson said the teen attempted to fire more shots but his gun jammed.

The officer fired 17 times, he said. It is unclear how many times the teenager was struck. Police said they recovered a 9mm Ruger. Dotson said he didn't know why the officer, who wasn't hurt, fired that many shots.

"An investigation will decide if the officer's behavior was appropriate," he said.

The chief said he is unaware of any video that captured the shooting.

'He was unarmed'

Word of the shooting spread quickly across social media, and crowds of angry people began showing up and flooded the streets. The crowd numbered about 300 at its peak. Random gunshots caused many to scatter. Several police cars were damaged. Dotson said there had been no arrests of those involved in the protests that followed.

The crowd included several who said they were Myers' relatives. Some shouted at police, and some were in tears.

Relatives of the teen who came to the scene identified the victim as Vonderrit Myers Jr. and said he was unarmed.

Teyonna Myers, 23, of Florissant, Mo., said Myers was her cousin.

"He was unarmed," she said. "He had a sandwich in his hand, and they thought it was a gun. It's like Michael Brown all over again."

Jackie Williams, 47, said Myers was his nephew and lived with him in the 4200 block of Castleman Avenue, near the shooting scene. He said he had talked to several people who had been with his nephew or saw the shooting.

"My nephew was coming out of a store from purchasing a sandwich. Security was supposedly searching for someone else. They Tased him," Williams said. "I don't know how this happened, but they went off and shot him 16 times. That's outright murder."

A police spokeswoman said the officer did not have a Taser.

Williams said Myers worked at a warehouse and attended high school.

Lavell Boyd, 47, lives in neighborhood and said he happened upon the scene as he was going to a store on Shaw to pick up a sandwich. Boyd said he heard 14 or 15 shots as he was in his car.

"When I pulled up, I saw the cop standing over him (Myers) then he pointed the gun at everyone else, telling everyone to get back while he was searching for another clip," Boyd said.

'This is not normal'

Several neighbors gathered at the scene said they were surprised by the shooting.

"This is not normal," said Dorenda Townsend, 42, who lives in the Shaw neighborhood. "I've lived here over 20 years."

Some also expressed concern that the shooting involved police.

"I pray this is not another Mike Brown situation," said Sharon Norman, 50, referring to a shooting in August in Ferguson, in which a police officer fatally shot a teenager, which has prompted many protests.

Wednesday's shooting was the third fatal police-involved shooting in the St. Louis area since Brown's death. On Aug. 19, Kajieme Powell, 25, was shot by St. Louis city officers after moving toward them with a knife while telling them, "Shoot me now. Kill me now." Both officers fired six shots each. Powell died at the scene.

On Sept. 17, officers shot and killed a 42-year-old man in the St. Louis County town of Jennings after the suspect allegedly slammed his vehicle into two police vehicles before pointing a rifle at officers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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