Tensions remained high in St. Louis, Missouri, after an off duty police officer shot and killed a man who the police say fired shots at them. According to Russia Today , the incident happened at around 7:30 p.m, local time on Wednesday in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis, when the off-duty police officer attempted a pedestrian check. The suspect, according to the police attempted to flee on foot and fired at the officer, to which the officer retaliated , says local Fox affiliate KTVI News . According to Assistant Chief Alfred Atkins, the officer had tried the pedestrian check on four individuals – and all four resisted him and attempted fleeing.
Here is an account of the incident as per the Twitter account of the St. Louis police department.
Officer working secondary in the 4100 blk of Shaw attempted a pedestrian check when suspect fled on foot. Officer pursued suspect.
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) October 9, 2014
Suspect turned & fired at officer. Fearing for his safety, officer returned fire striking the suspect, fatally wounding him.
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) October 9, 2014
The officer was not injured. A gun was recovered from the scene. The investigation is ongoing. — St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) October 9, 2014
According to Russia Today , the off-duty police officer was on his way to his second job as a security guard and was in uniform when the shooting took place. St. Louis police spokeswoman Leah Freeman has confirmed that unlike the case of Michael Brown , who was unarmed at the time of his shooting, the man killed in this latest incident was armed and had a gun in his possession. He had also reportedly fired at the officer. Incidentally, both the police officers involved in the two incidents are white.
According to CNN , the dead man is a young black male, the identity of whom is still under wraps. However, local residents have identified the victim as 18-year-old Vonderrick Myers. While the police officials maintain that the death of the man happened after retaliatory firing by an off duty police officer, some eyewitnesses claim that the man only had a sandwich in his hands. Other reports say that the black man was shot no less than 16 times. However, all of these are uncorroborated eyewitness accounts. Police officials say they have recovered a gun from the scene of the incident. As expected of an incident of this nature, it was widely discussed on Twitter and other social media channels.
Meanwhile, Russia Today reports that protest marches have already begun in St. Louis by youngsters, who have taken to the streets to protest the killing of the young man. Several streets of St. Louis were blocked by protestors who chanted slogans.
“We’re young, we’re strong, we’re marching all night long!” and “Fight back, fight back!”.
As already reported, tensions are running high in the community – in a region that faced civil unrest following the Michael Brown shooting two months ago. In fact, it was only yesterday that The Inquisitr reported about a possible riot situation in Ferguson, Missouri, if a grand jury decides against prosecuting Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown.
It is unclear what the reaction to the latest St. Louis shooting incident could be in Ferguson.
[Image Via David Carson / Twitter]
