[quote]US police have clashed with protesters in Missouri after an officer shot dead a black teenager close to where another black youth, Michael Brown, was killed in August sparking national protests.
A crowd of about 100 gathered at the scene in St Louis early on Wednesday after scuffles the night before.
Police said the man who was shot, Antonio Martin, 18, had pointed a gun at the police officer.
For weeks there have been widespread protests over alleged police brutality.
Berkeley is about two miles (3km) from the St Louis suburb of Ferguson, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead by a white officer.[/quote]
[url]http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30596531[/url]
>was tempted to post disgonbgud.gif
>realized this is just going to cause more social headaches in my country
>[url=https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608053393969710765&pid=15.1&P=0]My face right now[/url]
Detailed account from local news:
[spoiler][url=http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/berkeley-officer-kills-suspect-who-pulled-gun-police-say-victim/article_d45db16a-7422-5307-b81d-b45dbdc896ba.html]The officer saw two men on the parking lot in the 6800 block of North Hanley Road and began talking with them.
Belmar said one of the men approached the driver's side of the vehicle.
The officer's attorney, Brian Milliken, said one of the men spoke with the officer, while the other kept wandering away despite the officer's commands to stay near him, Milliken said.
One of the individuals "produced a pistol with his arm straight out, pointing it straight at the officer kind of from across the hood," Belmar said. He said the officer, who had a flashlight in his left hand, was near his driver's side door and the armed individual was near the headlights on the passenger side.
At that point, the chief said, the officer got his handgun, "and fired what we think is three shots." Belmar said one round struck the suspect, Antonio D. Martin, 18, and one struck a tire of the police car. Police said they did not immediately know where the third round went.
The officer, who is 34 and white, is a six-year veteran of the department, Belmar said. He was placed on administrative leave, which is standard.
While expressing condolences to the family of the man who was killed, Belmar noted "bad choices were made."
"This individual could have complied with the officer. He could have ran away, he could have dropped the gun, all sort of things could have happened. It didn't have to end with him approaching the officer with an arm extended and a 9 mm pistol in his hand," Belmar said.
Milliken said his client recounted the details to him several hours after the shooting.
"The other guy was doing the talking, and as the cop starts talking, the suspect starts walking away again," Milliken said. "At that point, the cop says, 'Hey, come back here,' and he turns around, pulls a gun from his left pant pocket."
"He's trying to process all of this, and the suspect raises it, points it at him. The cop pulls his weapon and starts backpedaling and fired three or four shots. It happened that quickly. He doesn't understand why the suspect's gun didn't fire. I'm not sure if he tried to pull the trigger and it jammed."
Belmar said as the officer backpedaled,he stumbled and dropped the flashlight. Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins, in a news conference later Wednesday morning, said it may have been a blessing in disguise.
"I think the officer, because he stumbled, may have saved his (own) life," he said.
Milliken said it's possible that his client was being set up for an ambush. Store employees called 911 after the suspects stole from the store, Milliken said.
"Their behavior is certainly bizarre, and it wouldn't surprise me at all, in the environment we are in, that's for sure," Milliken said.[/url][/spoiler]
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*Sighs*