Unarmed teen killed by police in Missouri

Ferguson, MO — People are crying out for justice for Michael Brown. Brown was unarmed when he was fatally shot by police.

Justice for Michael Brown

Hundreds of people gathered in the street outside an apartment complex in a St. Louis suburb on Saturday. They yelled “kill the police” after a police officer shot and killed a teenager.

That man has been identified as 18-year-old Michael Brown. Brown was shot and killed Saturday afternoon near his grandmother’s house by a Ferguson police officer. St. Louis County police have not given a reason for the shooting, which happened in a predominantly black suburb a few miles north of downtown St. Louis.

Family speaks out

Brown’s grandmother, Desiree Harris, told the Associated Press that she was driving through the neighborhood Saturday afternoon when she saw her grandson running a few blocks from her house.

“He was running this way,” she said. “When I got up there, my grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn’t tell me nothing.”

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar says the fatal shooting of  Michael Brown came after an altercation with police.

Belmar said at a news conference Sunday morning that a Ferguson Police officer had an encounter with two people. He says one person allegedly pushed the officer back into patrol car and assaulted the officer.

He says there was a struggle over the officers’ weapon and one shot was fired in the car. The officer then got out of his vehicle and shot at “a subject.”

Michael Shooting witnesses

Witnesses say Michael Brown was heading back to his grandmother’s home.  The officer “shot again and once my friend felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air,” said witness Dorian Johnson. “He started to get down and the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and fired several more shots.”

The shooting has led to protests in the Missouri community and has caused a social media uproar. The shooting of Michael Brown has once again sparked the anger over police use of excessive force, police brutality, and possible racism.

After the shooting, a confrontation between police and hundreds of neighborhood residents lasted several hours, with shouts of “kill the police.” At the height of the post-shooting tensions, police called for about 60 other units to respond to the area in Ferguson, a city of about 21,000 residents, about two-thirds of whom are black.

The crowd eventually dispersed and police scheduled a news conference for Sunday morning.

Civil rights groups demand answers

“We are hurt to hear that yet another teenaged boy has been slaughtered by law enforcement especially in light of the recent death of Eric Garner in New York who was killed for selling cigarettes,” St. Louis County NAACP President Esther Haywood said in a statement. “We plan to do everything within our power to ensure that the Ferguson Police Department as well as the St. Louis County Police Department releases all details pertinent to the shooting.”

The St. Louis County Police are investigating the shooting. But community activists are pushing for the FBI to get involved.

Family says Brown had recently graduated high school and was looking forward to the future, with plans to attend college.

The officer who shot Brown is on paid administrative leave.