Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Police shooting: White Missouri officer shoots, kills black man who pulled gun near Ferguson - World - CBC News
Oil winners & losers Jean B�liveau photos Debt lessons Rudolph turns 50 Police shooting: White Missouri officer shoots, kills black man who pulled gun near Ferguson North Korea websites back online after outages read comments Police shooting: White Missouri officer shoots, kills black man who pulled gun near Ferguson read comments Ismaaiyl Brinsley, NYC police shooter, had troubled past, criminal record read comments Russia's 'era of excess' ending with fallen ruble: Peter Pomerantsev read comments Ismaaiyl Brinsley identified as suspect in shooting of 2 NYC officers read comments Glasgow garbage truck crash kills 6 pedestrians read comments Marco Antonio Parilla Jr. arrested in killing of Florida police officer read comments ISIS in Iraq: Captive Yazidi women and girls faced brutal sexual violence read comments Pope Francis issues sharp critique of Vatican bureaucracy read comments German house sparkles with over 400,000 Christmas lights Stay Connected Mobile RSS Podcasts Member Services: Newsletters & Alerts Copyright � CBC 2014 cbc.radio-canada.ca cbc.ca radio-canada.ca The Associated Press Posted: Dec 24, 2014 5:40 AM ET Last Updated: Dec 24, 2014 6:44 PM ET Police try to control a crowd early Wednesday morning on the lot of a gas station in Berkeley, Mo. Police said an officer shot and killed a man who pulled a gun and pointed it at him. (David Carson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Associated Pres) Missouri police officer shoots, kills black man who pulled gun near Ferguson 3:36 Missouri police officer shoots, kills black man who pulled gun near Ferguson 3:36 Missouri police shooting aftermath RAW 1:37 Missouri police shooting aftermath RAW 1:37 (Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.) The mayor of the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley called for calm Wednesday after a white police officer killed a black 18-year-old who police said pointed a gun at him. The shooting reignited tensions that have lingered since the death of Michael Brown in neighbouring Ferguson. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the officer was questioning two men � one later identified as 18-year-old Antonio Martin � late Tuesday about a theft at a Berkeley convenience store when Martin pulled a 9mm handgun on the officer. The officer stumbled backward but fired three shots, one of which struck Martin, Belmar said. No shots came from Martin's loaded gun, the chief said. Martin died at the scene, though Belmar declined to specify where the fatal bullet hit Martin. Berkeley is near Ferguson, Missouri, where white police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old, on Aug. 9, sparking weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations. A grand jury's decision to not charge Wilson last month in the shooting has spurred a nationwide movement to protest police brutality. The 34-year-old, white Berkeley police officer, a six-year veteran of the police force in the 25,000-resident suburb, is on administrative leave pending an investigation, Belmar said. St. Louis County police and the city of Berkeley are investigating, Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins said. "He will carry the weight of this for the rest of his life, certainly for the rest of his career," Belmar said of the officer whose name was not immediately released. "There are no winners here." The officer wasn't wearing his body camera, and his police cruiser's dashboard camera was not activated because the car's emergency lights were not on, Belmar said. Toni Martin, front centre, cries out as she talks to police at the scene where she says her son, Antonio Martin, was fatally shot Tuesday by a police officer at a gas station in Berkeley, Mo. (David Carson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Associated Press) Police released surveillance video from the parking lot outside the store. The nearly two-minute clip shows two young men leaving the store as a patrol car rolls up, and the officer gets out and speaks with them. About 90 seconds later, the video appears to show one of the men raising his arm, though what he is holding is difficult to see because they were several feet from the camera. Belmar said it was a 9mm handgun � loaded with one round in the chamber and five more in the magazine. Police were searching for the other man, who fled on foot. Martin's relatives were not immediately available for comment Wednesday. The address listed for Martin turned out to be a vacant, boarded-up home, and a neighbor told The Associated Press that the family had moved out some time ago. He said he wasn't sure where they moved. It was the third fatal shooting of a black suspect by a white police officer in the St. Louis area since Brown was killed. Kajieme Powell, 25, was killed on Aug. 19 after approaching St. Louis officers with a knife. Vonderrit Myers, 18, was fatally shot on Oct. 8 after allegedly shooting at a St. Louis officer. Each shooting has been met by protests, and a crowd quickly gathered late Tuesday in Berkeley. The demonstration involving about 300 people turned violent. More than 50 police officers, some in riot gear, responded. Video showed some wrestling with protesters. Belmar said officers used pepper spray but not tear gas. Four people were arrested on charges of assaulting officers. Belmar said three explosive devices, perhaps fireworks, were tossed near gas pumps, and some protesters threw rocks and bricks. One officer hit by a brick was treated for facial cuts, and another was treated for a leg injury sustained as he retreated from an explosive. "I understand police officers have a job and have an obligation to go home to their families at the end of the night," said 36-year-old Orlando Brown, one of the protesters. "But do you have to treat every situation with lethal force? ... It's not a racial issue, or black or white. It's wrong or right." Brown said he was pepper-sprayed during the protest and that his friend was among those arrested. Hoskins said it is unfair for protesters to compare the Berkeley shooting to the Michael Brown case, noting there was no video of the fatal encounter in Ferguson. Ferguson also was criticized for having only three black officers on its 53-member force. Seventeen or 18 of Berkeley's 31 officers are black, as is the police chief and the city's top elected officials, said Hoskins, who is black. Hoskins' news conference was interrupted by a pointed exchange with Jason Keith Coleman, a black Baptist minister who insisted the shooting was the latest example of deadly aggression by "trigger-happy" police toward blacks. "Call it what it is � a police officer has killed another black man and this has got to stop," Coleman shouted at the mayor. "Everybody don't die the same," Hoskins countered. "Some people die because they initiate it, and at this point, our review suggests police did not initiate it." Belmar said Martin had a criminal record that included three assault charges and others for armed robbery, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. Some protesters questioned why the officer couldn't use pepper spray or a stun gun. "Frankly, that's unreasonable," Belmar said. "When we had somebody pointing a gun at a police officer, there's not a lot of time." Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines . Comments are welcome while open. We reserve the right to close comments at any time. Note: The CBC does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comments, you acknowledge that CBC has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Please note that comments are moderated and published according to our submission guidelines . 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