St. Louis police shooting of black teenager triggers angry protests

Angry residents of a St. Louis suburb filled the streets on Saturday afternoon, protesting the fatal police shooting earlier that day of 18-year-old Michael Brown, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

A witness at the scene said a police officer was attempting to put Brown in a squad car after the two exchanged words as he walked to his grandmother's residence. Brown reportedly raised his hands, turned, and attempted to run away, at which point the police officer fired several shots that hit Brown. But a police official at a press conference earlier today described the incident as stemming from "a physical confrontation," between Brown and the officer, reports CNN. The officer who fired on Brown has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Brown graduated this spring from Normandy High School and was scheduled to start school at Vatterott College on Monday. His stepfather, Louis Head, stood outside his home on Saturday holding a sign that read, "Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!"

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Head was joined by hundreds of fellow residents of Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb that is predominantly black. They shouted at more than 60 officers who arrived at the scene, at one point yelling, "Kill the police." The Ferguson Police Department turned the investigation over to the St. Louis County police, and an official for that body said there would be a "lengthy investigation."