Differing reports by Ferguson, Missouri police and witnesses to the shooting make it difficult to speculated as to what happened around noon on Saturday, but what is certain is that Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teen is dead and according to his mother was shot “eight times.”
Missouri teen shot down while visiting his grandmother
Brown’s mother told television station KSDK that her son was a “good child getting ready to go to college” and that he was visiting his grandmother when the shooting took place.
Dorin Johnson, a friend of the victim, told Fox 2 that he was walking in the street with Brown when the police squad car pulled up. The officer said to “Get the eff onto the sidewalk,” he recounted.
Johnson said the officer didn’t get out of his police car, but “reach[ed] his arm out the window and grabbed my friend around the neck.”
Whether that is accurate or not should ultimately come to light, but the Ferguson PD has said it went downhill from there and that Brown and the officer fought over the officer’s gun. The unnamed officer, a six-year veteran of the force who is currently on administrative leave, fired a single shot in the car and then multiple times in the ensuing foot chase.
Protests for Missouri teen’s death turned to looting
Yesterday evening, about 30 hours after the shooting, protests turned to looting and two police officers were injured including one struck by a brick and 32 were arrested. About 300 police officers, many in riot gear, were dispatched to the scene.
“The words I heard them use about the scene were ‘chaotic,” even ‘scary,'” said St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman in reference to the police response.
The 32 people arrested will face charges that could include assault, larceny and burglary, Schellman said. Nineteen businesses fell victim to the looting with one nearly burned to the ground.
Today, the FBI announced that it would conduct its own investigation after calls from the NAACP and other groups.
“The FBI notified me that they will be opening up a investigation that will run parallel to this investigation,” St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference.
Belmar said he had spoke to St. Louis Division Special Agent in Charge William Woods who “said he had a tremendous amount of confidence in the St. Louis county police department, but at this point he felt the need to open up an investigation.”
Looters raided several stores (VIDEO):
