Clashes Erupt When Armed Teenager is Killed By Police

24 Dec, 2014

A crowd of about 100 gathered at the scene in St Louis early on Wednesday after scuffles the night before. St Louis County police said the man who was shot had pulled a gun at a gas station and pointed it at the officer.

For weeks there have been protests about alleged police brutality.  Berkeley is about two miles from the suburb of Ferguson, where the 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead by a white officer.

The victim of the Berkeley shooting was named by local media as Antonio Martin, 18, citing his mother.

St Louis County police chief Jon Belmar said the officer was responding to a call about a theft when he saw two men at a petrol station in North Hanley Road and approached them.

He said that one of the men pointed a handgun at the officer, and the officer responded by firing three shots, one of which hit the man.

The officer “responded with what he thought was commensurate force at the time”, Col Belmar said, adding that “most of us would feel in imminent danger of losing our lives at that point”.

Col Belmar described the incident as “a tragedy for everybody”, and said a prosecutor had been assigned to investigate the case.

“Our hearts certainly go out to the family, but bad choices were made,” he added.

“This individual could have complied with the officer, he could have run away, he could have dropped the gun. Things did not have to end with him approaching an officer with a 9mm pistol in his hand.”

Between 200 and 300 people gathered at the scene after the incident, Col Belmar said, adding that bricks were thrown at police officers, and three explosive devices set off.

Four people had been arrested for assaulting police officers, he said.

Police are releasing video footage of the run up to the shooting, and an image of the second man, who fled the scene.

The handgun said to belong to the victim has been recovered by police.

BBC

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