Protests erupt as police shoot Black teen just 2 miles from Ferguson A police officer in St. Louis County, Mo., was threatened by an 18-year-old black man, this time with a gun, and shot and killed the suspect in self-defense. Almost immediately, protesters descended on the scene to decry what they called “police escalation” and some of their confrontations with police turned violent. The shooting occurred less than two miles from where Michael Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Police have identified neither the officer involved or the man who was killed, but Toni Martin told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her son, Antonio Martin, had been fatally shot at about 11:15 Tuesday night. The Berkeley Police officer involved had stopped at a Mobil station for a “routine business check” when he stepped out of his car and approached two individuals standing outside. One of the individuals drew a gun and pointed it at the officer, who then drew his own firearm and fired several times, fatally wounding the suspect. The other individual fled the scene and police are still looking for them. Berkeley police requested that the shooting be investigated by the St. Louis County Crimes Against Persons unit. St. Louis County Police Sgt. Brian Schellman told the Post-Dispatch that a media briefing would be given Wednesday morning and that video footage from the gas station surveillance cameras would be released soon. “You can see the gentleman raise a handgun and the officer fire a shot,” Schellman, who had seen the footage, told the Post-Dispatch. The handgun was recovered at the scene, detectives said in a statement. And, just as with the Michael Brown shooting, people were apparently jumping to conclusions without any information. “This is ridiculous, man,” Mike Smith, 30, told the Post-Dispatch about the shooting. “After the first one this sh– should have stopped. My only question is: what exactly did he do to be killed?” “Black. Young person shot by a police officer,” Rev. Starsky Wilson said, calling the description too common. “Somebody just lost their son before Christmas,” protester Darien Gatewood, 23, said. “This is a present from law enforcement.” He added that “no one out here” has any respect for the community police any longer. While most of the demonstrators were non-violent, a nearby QuikTrip store was vandalized — again — and some “explosive flashes” were set off, but it was unclear whether officers did that for crowd control or the protesters themselves set them off. It is, of course, a shame for anyone to lose their son or brother at any time, much less a day or two before Christmas. We will wait for more facts and video of the incident before making any judgement on this situation and would encourage everyone to remain calm and to not engage any police officers in a negative manner thereby putting them selves at risk.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 14:20:41 +0000