Fatal Shooting of 18-year-old By Off-duty Police Officer Ignites Protests In St. Louis
By Fred Barbash and Abby Phillip
Washington Post
October 9 at 9:55 AM
Protesters took to the streets of south St. Louis last night and early this morning following the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old African American man by an off-duty police officer. In an early morning briefing, Police Chief Sam Dotson said the man fired three shots at the officer first. The officer returned fire 17 times.
According to police, the officer was working for a private security company at the time, patrolling a specific neighborhood, but was in a St. Louis police uniform when he encountered three men he thought were acting suspiciously about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. When they saw the officer make a U-turn, they fled.
He drove through the streets after them and then left his car and chased them on foot. One of the men then turned toward the officer and approached him “in an aggressive manner,” Dotson said. The suspect and the officer got into a physical altercation.
Dotson said the man then ran up a hill and fired three times at the officer before the officer returned fire. Investigators recovered a 9mm Ruger at the scene, which Dotson said was used by the 18-year-old, whom he described as “no stranger to law enforcement.”
“The suspect continued to pull the trigger on the gun … we learned that that gun had malfunctioned and it was jammed,” Dotson said.
The officer returned fire, killing the man.
The officer involved in the shooting worked for a security company called “Hi-Tech Security,” which employs several St. Louis police officers in secondary “moonlighting” jobs. He was patrolling the neighborhood on behalf of that company, not the St. Louis police department.
Dotson also announced the launch of an internal and criminal investigation.
“When the investigation is complete and during the investigation, in consultation with the circuit attorney’s office, we will present that case to them and ask them to review it to make a decision about the officer’s actions and if they were appropriate in that situation,” Dotson said.
Relatives quoted by local news organizations said the man had only a sandwich, not a weapon.
Dotson said police were interviewing witnesses to get a firmer picture of what happened.
In the aftermath of the shooting, at least 200 people took to the streets, jeering at police and blocking traffic on Grand Boulevard, television footage showed. There were no reports of injuries, though some police cars were damaged. Some chanted “hands up, don’t shoot,” the mantra of protesters in neighboring Ferguson, Mo., where and unarmed teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer Aug. 9.
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| Crowds gather in protest against police killing of African American youth. |
Washington Post
October 9 at 9:55 AM
Protesters took to the streets of south St. Louis last night and early this morning following the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old African American man by an off-duty police officer. In an early morning briefing, Police Chief Sam Dotson said the man fired three shots at the officer first. The officer returned fire 17 times.
According to police, the officer was working for a private security company at the time, patrolling a specific neighborhood, but was in a St. Louis police uniform when he encountered three men he thought were acting suspiciously about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. When they saw the officer make a U-turn, they fled.
He drove through the streets after them and then left his car and chased them on foot. One of the men then turned toward the officer and approached him “in an aggressive manner,” Dotson said. The suspect and the officer got into a physical altercation.
Dotson said the man then ran up a hill and fired three times at the officer before the officer returned fire. Investigators recovered a 9mm Ruger at the scene, which Dotson said was used by the 18-year-old, whom he described as “no stranger to law enforcement.”
“The suspect continued to pull the trigger on the gun … we learned that that gun had malfunctioned and it was jammed,” Dotson said.
The officer returned fire, killing the man.
The officer involved in the shooting worked for a security company called “Hi-Tech Security,” which employs several St. Louis police officers in secondary “moonlighting” jobs. He was patrolling the neighborhood on behalf of that company, not the St. Louis police department.
Dotson also announced the launch of an internal and criminal investigation.
“When the investigation is complete and during the investigation, in consultation with the circuit attorney’s office, we will present that case to them and ask them to review it to make a decision about the officer’s actions and if they were appropriate in that situation,” Dotson said.
Relatives quoted by local news organizations said the man had only a sandwich, not a weapon.
Dotson said police were interviewing witnesses to get a firmer picture of what happened.
In the aftermath of the shooting, at least 200 people took to the streets, jeering at police and blocking traffic on Grand Boulevard, television footage showed. There were no reports of injuries, though some police cars were damaged. Some chanted “hands up, don’t shoot,” the mantra of protesters in neighboring Ferguson, Mo., where and unarmed teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer Aug. 9.
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