A witness is calling it “Michael Brown all over again”
Late last night, in the small town of Shaw in St. Louis, Missouri, an off-duty police officer shot and killed an African-American teenager by the name of Vonderrit Myers Jr. According to the Police Chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Department, Sam Dotson, Myers Jr. was with two other people when they were confronted by an off-duty cop–a white male whose identity has yet to be revealed–and a chase ensued on foot. During the chase, Myers reportedly turned around and moved aggressively towards the cop in pursuit. A tussle occurred, and Myers Jr., according to the officer, reached for his waist, prompting the officer to believe Myers was carrying a firearm.
This is where the story gets…confusing.
Dotson says the cop paused after Myers reached for his waist to confirm that Myers was in fact reaching for a gun. From there, Dotson’s account skips to Myers firing rounds (3) at the off-duty cop until his gun jammed. The officer, who wasn’t injured, took the opportunity to retaliate with force, firing 17 rounds at Myers, killing him.
Protests erupted almost immediately, and a relative of Myers’, Teyonna, had this to say about what happened to her nephew.
He had a sandwich in his hand, and they thought it was a gun. It’s like Michael Brown all over again.
According to Dotson, an investigation produced the firearm Myers was reportedly carrying and the evidence of the three shots he fired at the off-duty cop.
Be sure to check back with us for more details, which we’ll update this story with once they become available.