Witnesses and police gave different accounts as to how an officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on a street in Ferguson, Missouri on Saturday afternoon.
Michael Brown’s friend Dorian Johnson, 22, told CNN that he and Brown were walking in the middle of the street when a Ferguson police officer confronted the two and told them to use the sidewalk. There was an exchange of words.
The officer then stopped the car only inches away from the pair and tried to open his door, but the door bounced off the pair and closed on the officer. From inside his car, the officer grabbed Brown by the neck and began pulling Brown toward him. He then drew and fired his weapon, hitting Brown.
Brown and Johnson ran away. The officer got out of his car to follow Brown and fired a second shot that struck Brown. Johnson hid behind a car and saw Brown stop, turn around and raise his his hands in the air to indicate he had no weapon. The officer continued shooting at Brown several times until he hit the ground and died.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, however, said a preliminary investigation showed that Brown pushed the officer back into his vehicle when the officer tried to exit the vehicle. There was a struggle over the officer's weapon, and a shot was fired inside the police car, hitting no one.
Police did not explain how Brown was eventually shot dead 35 feet away from the police vehicle, CNN reported.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the president of the St. Louis branch of the NAACP said a second eyewitness has stepped forward and will be interviewed by the FBI. That witness, who has not been identified, said her or she also did not see Brown struggling with the officer inside his car.
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