UPDATE 5:30 p.m.: FERGUSON, Mo. (TheBlaze/AP) — The mother of the 18-year-old black man fatally by a police officer said the officer should be fired, jailed and get "the death penalty."
Lesley McSpadden said Sunday she doesn't understand why police didn't subdue her son with a club or Taser.
Speaking at the site of the Saturday killing, McSpadden added that police haven't explained why her son was confronted by the officer.
Original story is below
FERGUSON, Mo. (TheBlaze/AP) — An 18-year-old black man fatally shot by a suburban St. Louis police officer was unarmed, police said Sunday during a news conference that occurred while hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside to demand answers.
Police have not disclosed the name of the man who was killed, but family members said it was Michael Brown, a 2014 high school graduate set to begin classes at Vatterott College on Monday.
Louis Head, stepfather to 18-year-old Michael Brown who was fatally shot by police, holds a sign in Ferguson, Mo., near St. Louis on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. The sign reads, "Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son." (Image source: AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Huy Mach)
Brown's grandmother, Desiree Harris, said Saturday she saw him minutes before she heard a commotion and went outside. She found Brown's body less than two blocks away.
"My grandson never even got into a fight," she said. "He was just looking forward to getting on with his life. He was on his way."
Protestors raise their hands during an impromptu rally, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014 to protest the shooting of Michael Brown, 18, by police in Ferguson, Mo. Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. (Image source: AP/Sid Hastings)
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said that an officer encountered two people on the street near an apartment complex Saturday afternoon in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb a few miles north of downtown St. Louis.
Belmar said one of the men pushed the officer back into his squad car and a struggle began. Belmar said at least one shot was fired from the officer's gun inside the police car. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said authorities were still sorting out what happened inside the police car.
The struggle spilled out into the street, where Brown was shot multiple times. Belmar said the exact number of shots wasn't known, but "it was more than just a couple." He also said all shell casings found at the scene matched the officer's gun. Police are still investigating why the officer shot Brown, who police have confirmed was unarmed.
The second person has not been arrested or charged and was expected to be interviewed later Sunday, Jackson said, adding that authorities aren't sure if that person was unarmed.
A few hundred protesters gathered outside Ferguson Police headquarters about the time the news conference was to begin. At one point many of them marched into an adjacent police building, some chanting "Don't shoot me" while holding their hands in the air. Officers stood at the top of a staircase, but didn't use force; the crowd eventually left.
Protesters outside chanted slogans — "No justice, no peace" and "We want answers" — and some carried signs that read "Stop police terrorism" and "Disarm the police."
Protests also flared up Saturday night, hours after the shooting:
St. Louis County Police Department is in charge of the investigation. But St. Louis County NAACP member John Gaskin said Saturday that the FBI should get involved "to protect the integrity of the investigation." St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, who showed up at the protest Sunday to urge calm, said he also will request an FBI investigation.
The officer has been with the Ferguson Police Department for six years, Belmar said, noting he wasn't aware of other issues involving the officer. He has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is a common procedure after police shootings. Authorities have not disclosed the officer's race.
Critics have contended that police in the St. Louis area too often target young black men. Statistics on police-involved shootings in the region were not immediately available.
Gaskin alluded to the 2012 racially charged shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a Florida neighborhood watch organizer who was acquitted of murder charges, as well as the New York City man who died from a police chokehold after he was confronted for selling individual cigarettes.
"With the recent events of a young man killed by the police in New York City and with Trayvon Martin and with all the other African-American young men that have been killed by police officers ... this is a dire concern to the NAACP, especially our local organization," Gaskin said.
Anthony Shahid, a community activist who led Sunday's protest, urged demonstrators to post videos and photos on social media so Monday's planned protests would draw thousands instead of hundreds.
"We're not worried about what's happening in Afghanistan," Shahid said. "We're worried about what's happening in Ferguson ... black youths being murdered."
