"if you take one of us, you will have to take all of us" STL Shooting #ferguson
Mansur Ball-Bey, the 18-year-old man shot and killed by police in St. Louis, Missouri on Wednesday, died from a single wound in the back, police said according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
The shooting happened about 11:30 a.m. when officers arrived at a home to serve a search warrant, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
As the officers were trying to get inside the home, two men ran out the back door. Police say one man had a gun with an extended magazine, while the other man had two handguns.
While fleeing, Ball-Bey allegedly turned and pointed his gun at police, the Post-Dispatch reported. Two officers then opened fire. One officer fired once, and another officer fired three times.
Ball-Bey who allegedly pointed the gun continued running, but eventually collapsed and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said that the location of the gunshot wound does not confirm that Ball-Bey refused to drop his gun.
"Just becuase he was shot in the back doesn't mean he was running away," Chief Sam Doston said, according to the Post-DIspatch. "It could be, and I'm not saying that it doesn't mean that. I just don't know yet."
The second man fled and remained at large Wednesday evening.
Police said they found four guns at the scene, including the one the first man pointed at the officers. They also reportedly found cocaine.
The two officers have been placed on leave while the case is investigated. Police have not identified the young man who allegedly fled from the officers.
After the shooting, dozens of people gathered nearby.
The crowd eventually grew to include about 100 people, the Post-Dispatch reported. Photos from the scene showed people standing in the street and confronting officers from across police tape.
Protesters really agitated
Wqterbottles thrown.
At this stage the question asked to cops is always the same: "Why do you always shoot to kill?" #Ferguson
Police responded to the gathering with heavily armed officers and vehicles.
Officers in SWAT gear arrived about 3:30 p.m., according to the Post-Dispatch. Witnesses and journalists at the scene reported seeing at least three people taken into custody.
Police also could be heard announcing that the gathering was an "unlawful assembly" shortly after water bottles were thrown at officers.
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson told reporters Wednesday night that nine people were arrested at the protests. Dotson said police supported peaceful protesters, but officers had to act when laws were broken and traffic was disrupted.
"When laws are broken, police have to do the job," he said.
Three of the guns recovered earlier in the day were stolen, he said, noting gun crimes are common in the area. Shots were fired at the time of the protests, he said.
"I did hear gunshots when I was in the area," he said.
Man arbitrarily arrested. He. did. Absolutely. Nothing. Period. #Ferguson
Police, some in SWAT gear, armored vehicle, ordering crowd to disperse, unlawful assembly, they say. 3rd order.
As night fell, several fires were lit in the street.
Shutting shit down with a flaming barricade across page & walton #stl
A car was set fire on Walton #Page
Car on Fire. Fire dept. Will not come back w/o a police escort.
Several people said the fires were set by white protesters, who then fled the scene.
There are white peoples, anons, setting stuff on fire and running away. I'm about to fight
Police officers returned to the area along with the fire department after the car went up in flames, Dotson said. An increased police presence would remain in the neighborhood through Thursday. A burglary was also reported at a store, he said.
Three of the four guns recovered on Wednesday had been stolen, Dotson said. Reports of stolen guns are up 70 percent since this time last year, he said, encouraging gun owners to avoid leaving firearms in vehicles or other unsecured locations.
Dotson added that the department supported the rights of St. Louis residents to voice their opinions without turning to violence.
"The people who do other things are criminals, and we treat them like criminals," he said.
The shooting and ensuing protest comes just one year after Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was killed in nearby Ferguson. That shooting prompted weeks of protests and catalyzed the Black Lives Matter movement.
For about two weeks after Brown's death — exactly one year ago — protests were continuing in Ferguson and elsewhere across the U.S. Demonstrations and unrest continued to a lesser degree in the ensuing months, but spiked in intensity again in November when a grand jury cleared Darren Wilson, the Ferguson officer who shot Brown.
Ferguson is about eight miles from the site of Wednesday's police shooting in St. Louis.