Ferguson is again on edge and community residents are rallying, after a police officer, 32, fired 17 shots at a fleeing suspect — an 18-year-old black man — ultimately killing him.
Ballistic evidence shows that the unnamed man had fired three shots at the police officer, and then his weapon jammed, said St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson, CBS News reported.
“An investigation will decide if the officer’s behavior was appropriate,” said Chief Dotson in the media outlet.
Chief Dotson said at an early morning press conference that his officer — also unnamed — was off-duty and patrolling a neighborhood for a privately owned security company when three men in the street saw him and started running. One of the men was grabbing at his waistband and running rather lopsided, much as someone who’s carrying a gun would. so the officer followed him, the chief said, CBS News reported.
That man then reportedly turned and fired at the officer — and the officer shot back and killed him, Chief Dotson said.
Chief Dotson also said he didn’t know why the officer fired 17 shots, or how many actually hit their target.
People who said they were relatives of the killed man said to the St. Louis Post Dispatch that the suspect was not armed.
Police, however, found a 9mm Ruger, the St. Louis Post Dispatch said.
Protesters rallied at the Missouri Botanical Garden a short time after the incident, KMOV-TV reported. Some shouted at officers; some shouted “Hands up, don’t shoot,” the same refrain called out after Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in the streets of Ferguson.
Officer Wilson, who said he acted in self-defense, has not been charged in the shooting.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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