A Ferguson, Missouri community is calling for action after a police officer reportedly shot and killed an unarmed teen.
The shooting happened around 2:15 p.m. when a black teenager, identified by witnesses as 18-year-old Michael Brown, was reportedly walking back from a nearby store when he was approached by police.
“Witnesses say the officer grabbed him around the neck and tried to pull him into the car, then repeatedly shot the youth.”
“He was unarmed. He ran for his life . They shot him.”
Not long after that, pictures of the teen’s dead body flooded social media — they show the young man face down in a pool of blood.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Brown just finished high school earlier this year and was scheduled to start classes at Vatterott College on Monday.
Admittedly, we don’t know the intricate details of the shooting — which is still being investigated. Local police have not said what led to the shooting, how many times Brown was shot, or if he was unarmed, as several witnesses have told local reporters.
But we did find differences in how this story is being reported. Video from St. Louis news stations show hundreds of people, predominantly black, gathered in the streets where the shooting took place.
While some outlets described the gathering as an “angry crowd” or “hundreds outraged,” others referred to those in the community as a “mob.”
Several videos show the crowd marching and chanting after the shooting. While the crowd can be heard shouting chants like “No justice, no peace,” some outlets focused on the more incendiary language, like obscenities and “kill the police.”
The St. Louis County NAACP President, and Missouri representative, Esther Haywood released a statement saying, “We are hurt to hear that yet another teenaged boy has been slaughtered by law enforcement especially in light of the recent death of Eric Garner in New York who was killed for selling cigarettes.”
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told reporters the St. Louis County police department is currently in control of the investigation. He also said the officer who reportedly shot and killed Brown is on paid administrative leave.
