No charges will be filed against a police officer in St. Louis, Missouri, who shot and killed VonDerrit Myers Jr. after a foot chase last year, prosecutors announced Monday.
Officer not charged in VonDerrit Myers, Jr. shooting death http://t.co/AsHqV3yH83
Authorities said Myers fired his own gun before St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Jason Flanery — who was identified by the police chief in a separate statement — fired back, killing the 18-year-old on Oct. 18.
According to authorities, Flanery fired 17 rounds, but autopsy reports showed Myers was hit eight times, including a fatal wound to the right side of his head. His family had insisted Myers was unarmed when Flanery, who was working as a security guard at the time, opened fire.
The shooting occurred about three months and 12 miles away from where a Ferguson police officer shot and killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown.
Crowds protesting the deadly shooting gathered soon after Myers was killed, disputing official accounts that he had been armed during the shooting.
Jerryl Christmas, an attorney for Myers' family, said he plans to file a wrongful-death lawsuit by the end of the month, according to the Associated Press. Christmas said the officer "acted irrationally" and "the family needs to be compensated for their loss."
The shooting was investigated by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office and an assistant U.S. attorney. The review was completed independently from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Force Investigation Unit, which also reviewed the shooting.
The circuit attorney's office also released a 51-page report detailing the findings of the investigation. The report listed a 9mm Smith and Wesson pistol as having been found near Myers' body — a shell casing jammed in the gun.
The shooting was also the first that was reviewed by the circuit attorney's office after the department adopted a new protocol for reviewing officer-involved shootings.
Flanery and three other people who were with Myers declined to be interviewed by prosecutors, according to the statement.