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| Fatal shooting of 18-year-old by off-duty police officer ignites protests in St. Louis | Fatal shooting of 18-year-old by off-duty police officer ignites protests in St. Louis |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| [This post has been updated.] | [This post has been updated.] |
| 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 the city’s Shaw neighborhood. In an early morning briefing, Police Chief Sam Dotson said the man fired three shots at the officer first. The officer, a six-year veteran of the department, 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. | 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. |
| “One of the ran in a way that the officer believed that he was armed with a gun – holding his waist band, not running at full stride,” Conway said, referring to the 18-year old. | |
| 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. | 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.” | 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 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 returned fire, killing the man. |
| The victim was identified as Vonderrit Myers Jr., by family members at the scene, according to the St. Louis Dispatch. | |
| 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. | 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. | 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. | “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. | Relatives quoted by local news organizations said the man had only a sandwich, not a weapon. |
| “He was unarmed,” Myers’ cousin, Teyonna Myers, told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “He had a sandwich in his hand, and they thought it was a gun.” | |
| Dotson said police were interviewing witnesses to get a firmer picture of what happened. | 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. | 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. |
| Witnesses say he was tased first and then followed up with 16 shots … His mother jus fainted at the scene https://t.co/ObRNQyrad4 — Tef Poe/FootKlan (@TefPoe) October 9, 2014 | Witnesses say he was tased first and then followed up with 16 shots … His mother jus fainted at the scene https://t.co/ObRNQyrad4 — Tef Poe/FootKlan (@TefPoe) October 9, 2014 |
| Witnesses say he was tased first and then followed up with 16 shots … His mother jus fainted at the scene https://t.co/ObRNQyrad4 | Witnesses say he was tased first and then followed up with 16 shots … His mother jus fainted at the scene https://t.co/ObRNQyrad4 |
| — Tef Poe/FootKlan (@TefPoe) October 9, 2014 | — Tef Poe/FootKlan (@TefPoe) October 9, 2014 |
| “I pray this is not another Mike Brown situation,” Sharon Norman, 50, told the paper. She was one of many who invoked the events in Ferguson. | |
| St. Louis Alderman Stephen Conway, who represents the Shaw neighborhood, said that he is “very concerned” about the activity in the streets, but he believes the incident will be handled differently than recent event in Ferguson. | |
| “Chief Dotson has a fairly good reputation as being a straight shooter, honest, considerate,” Conway said in an interview. “I watched his police officers handling themselves admirably in the face of some serious yelling, screaming, kicking of their cars last night.” | |
| Police reported no significant violence. There was one arrest of an unidentified individual for having a gun. | |
| Myers lives about a block and a half away from where the incident occurred Conway said. | |
| “Everybody has heartfelt sorrow for the family, and we feel bad,” Conway added. | |
| Here’s the briefing by Dotson: | Here’s the briefing by Dotson: |
| .@ChiefSLMPD’s media briefing relative to 10/8 officer-involved shooting is now posted on our YouTube channel: http://t.co/YIJrTQoO0p— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) October 9, 2014 | .@ChiefSLMPD’s media briefing relative to 10/8 officer-involved shooting is now posted on our YouTube channel: http://t.co/YIJrTQoO0p— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) October 9, 2014 |
| .@ChiefSLMPD’s media briefing relative to 10/8 officer-involved shooting is now posted on our YouTube channel: http://t.co/YIJrTQoO0p | .@ChiefSLMPD’s media briefing relative to 10/8 officer-involved shooting is now posted on our YouTube channel: http://t.co/YIJrTQoO0p |