Protests erupt after St. Louis officer kills black teen

Police cordoned off a major street in the predominately African-American suburb, already on edge over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in August.

Police Chief Col. Sam Dotson said the officer was patrolling a neighborhood for a private security company late Wednesday when the incident happened.

The off-duty officer, who was in St. Louis police uniform, had tried to stop the young man, identified as Vonderrick Myers Jr, during a foot chase Wednesday night, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said.

Myers opened fire at the officer and a gun was recovered from the scene, police claimed. The officer fired 17 shots, Dotson said.

Some witnesses said Myers was unarmed and had only been carrying a sandwich.

“He was unarmed,” Teyonna Myers, the suspect’s cousin, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch. “He had a sandwich in his hand, and they thought it was a gun. It’s like Michael Brown all over again.”

Shortly after the shooting, people began to gather at the scene near the Missouri Botanical Garden, yelling “hands up, don’t shoot” in protest.

The chanting was a reference to the August 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who held up his hands while he was shot repeatedly by officer Darren Wilson at close range.

“Hey, hey, ho, ho, these killers cops have got to go,” the protesters shouted. “Who do you serve? Who do you protect?”

They smashed windows on several police cars.

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/10/09/381622/protests-after-us-cop-kills-black-teen/