- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NteNCOXxWPY
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5_ZrN30dDg
- http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/10/st-louis-teen-police-shooting/13856377/
(KSDK) -- We are following breaking news tonight in Ferguson, Missouri where tensions reached a boiling point following an officer involved shooting that left a teenager dead. Police officers from every jurisdiction in the St. Louis area are either in Ferguson or are heading there. The strong police presence became necessary after rioting and looting were reported in the area. The violence began after a planned rally and vigil in the wake of the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Brown was the unarmed teenager shot to death by an Ferguson police officer on Saturday afternoon.
Witnesses say tensions boiled over tonight at the intersection of West Florisant and Ferguson. Rioting broke out there around 8:30 Sunday night. In response Ferguson police have called in an extra 60 officers as well as officers from all surrounding jurisdictions. St. Louis city police are assisting by answering calls in St. Louis County and a St. Louis SWAT team is staging at Ferguson and West Florissant tonight.
Additional looting is also reported at a liquor store near the Ferguson Quiktrip, as well as fire reported behind the building where the liquor store is located.
All of this is unfolding along Florissant Avenue, where NewsChannel 5 reporter Elizabeth Matthews and photojournalist Don Galloway were working. Matthews reports seeing more then half a dozen individuals breaking into the store, followed by dozens of others as the looting began.
The day began with Chief Jon Belmar with the St. Louis County Police Department holding a news conference Sunday morning and releasing new information about the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Belmar said the incident started when Brown physically assaulted the police officer, pushing him into the officer's vehicle. He said there was a struggle inside the car, and at some point Brown reached for the officer's weapon. One shot was fired inside the vehicle.
Brown suffered fatal gunshot wounds outside of the vehicle, approximately 35 feet from the car.
Belmar said multiple shell casings were found at the scene, and that Brown was shot more than once, but an exact number of shots fired has not yet been determined. All the shell casings came from the officer's weapon.
Belmar confirmed Brown was unarmed at the time of the shooting. He did not say what led to the struggle inside the officer's car.
The medical examiner is conducting an investigation to determine how many times Brown was shot. It will take several weeks before toxicology results are available.
After the shooting, Belmar said Ferguson Chief Tom Jackson called him and asked the county to take over the investigation.
Belmar said when the investigation is complete the findings will be turned over to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. They will determine if charges should be filed.
On Saturday afternoon the St. Louis County NAACP called for the FBI to investigate the shooting. Belmar said the FBI could become involved later, and that it's not unusual for the FBI to become involved in cases like this.
"My son just turned 18 and graduated from high school, and he don't bother nobody," Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, told NewsChannel 5 Saturday night. She said he was looking forward to starting school at Vatterott College next week.
"They told me how many times my son was shot. Eight," said McSpadden. She said he was visiting his grandmother, who lives in the complex, and was returning from the store.
