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Preliminary autopsy shows Michael Brown was shot at least 6 times, including twice in the head
A preliminary private autopsy performed on Sunday shows that Michael Brown, the unarmed teenager killed in Ferguson, Missouri, last week by a police officer, was shot at least six times, with two bullets hitting his head.
The autopsy was conducted by Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, who flew to Missouri at the request of Brown's family. One bullet entered the top of his skull, a fatal injury that happened when Brown's head was likely bent forward.
Brown was struck four times in the right arm, with all bullets fired into the front of his body. Only three bullets were recovered. Baden said that the bullets did not appear to have been shot from close range, as no gunpowder was found on Brown's body. Baden did not have access to his clothes, though, and there could be gunpowder residue there.
"People have been asking: How many times was he shot? This information could have been released on Day 1," Baden told The New York Times after finishing the autopsy. "They don't do that, even as feelings built up among the citizenry that there was a cover-up. We are hoping to alleviate that."
A board-certified forensic pathologist, Baden has performed more than 20,000 autopsies and reviewed the autopsies of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He told The Times that his findings did not absolve or blame the police officer who shot Brown, Officer Darren Wilson, according to the St. Louis County police. "We need more information; for example, the police should be examining the automobile to see if there is gunshot residue in the police car," he said.