Police shoot black teen at Missouri gas station

(Reuters) - An 18-year-old black man was shot and killed by police at a gas station late on Tuesday in a St. Louis suburb near where unarmed teen Michael Brown was killed by a white officer in August, police and local media said.

A live video feed showed the gas station cordoned off by yellow tape and guarded by police, some in helmets and carrying riot shields, with bystanders shouting at them in a tense standoff.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper reported that some 60 people had gathered at the scene and that at least three people were arrested. Images and video footage showed what appeared to be smoke and loud bangs, although it was not clear whether it was the bystanders or the police that had caused them.

Police shoot black teen at Missouri gas station

It is too early to determine exactly what transpired, but I do not like the timing of this. Hopefully everyone can remain as calm as possible until we can establish exactly what went down.

Please keep in mind that I am merely reporting on a breaking story using the exact title of the article linked. I am confident in the ability of ATS readers to utilise their critical thinking skills without taking the title at face value.

Edits:
- Changed from the news.com.au article to the Yahoo! News one as it was more detailed.
- Added statement in bold to the OP.

a reply to: Dark Ghost

I saw a video posted on FB showing a confrontation happening.

People were upset in the video that much is for sure. Not enough context available at the moment to understand the situation.

Tragic, for the teenager, their family, and all involved really.

It seems as though LEO are working together nationally to cause as much unrest as possible. I say this because they could have manned up a long time ago and admitted the errors they have made. Not oh I do not know promote T-shirts that say I can Breath!

I do not know if the whole race war thing is something they can orchestrate, police brutality period is what everyone I personally know of are talking about, I think we are going to see people come together like never before. It has already been happening, hence all the distractions in the media while people have been in the streets for weeks, white, black, brown, young/old.

It is going to be an interesting New Year.

a reply to: Dark Ghost

RRRROUND 2!! Ding Ding

Hopefully there is surveillance footage or dashcam video of the encounter so America can set this aside and focus on real probelms

I've been watching the story unfold for awhile now. It got me agitated enough to post the following to my FB:

Dear Black America,

Without a doubt it is an unspeakable tragedy when an unarmed young man is shot down by police who are either too afraid or too prejudiced to correctly do their jobs. There is never an excuse for the killing of an innocent - regardless of race.

When this happens not only do I understand your rage, I share it.

But not every young man of color who dies from police gunfire is an innocent or a Saint. There are those who do have guns and who do point them or attempt to shoot first. Anyone who points a gun at a cop risks death. This is just a fact of life in America.

Now we find ourselves at a point where it seems many black people see every police shooting of a black man as the taking of an innocent life, even when it is not. Hatred rises, riots erupt, and countless lives are scarred in the process.

I understand your pain. I understand your rage. But I also understand that absolutism and blind hatred lead to destruction and nothing more. For all that is holy, for the future of our children - the ones too little to understand any of it - we must fix this. We must mend these bridges.

This cycle of death, destruction, fear - all feeding one another HAS to stop. It's untenable and totally irrational.

a reply to: Dark Ghost

The kid had a gun. Police didn't have time to ask his age before shooting. 60 people there and nobody interviewed.

originally posted by: FlyersFan

The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

If you point a gun at an armed cop, you will die.
So use your head and don't do it.

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

Whoa please stop with the common sense! CNN's ratings are gonna get even lower if we don't all huddle around this story, bash cops, and apologize for being white. Do it for the media flyers... just do it for the media..

a reply to: Hefficide

I can't find "Black America" in the maps.

Let me guess .. the kid just wanted a snickers bar but held the place up and pointed a gun at the police because he forgot his wallet at home ..

Police: Officer in Missouri shot, killed man who pulled gun

This is apparently a few miles from Ferguson.

According to a statement from St. Louis County police spokesman Sgt. Brian Schellman, a Berkeley police officer was conducting a routine business check at a gas station around 11:15 p.m. Tuesday when he saw two men and approached them.
One of the men pulled a handgun and pointed it at the officer, Schellman said. The officer fired several shots, striking and fatally wounding the man.

The second man fled, and the dead man's handgun has been recovered, according to Schellman.

The secong pic is not the second man, who as the article says, fled. A crowd gathered and there was scuffling and subduing. More photos at link.

a reply to: Trueman

Sadly you can, you're just looking at the wrong maps. Try Googling "US cities with highest incarceration / povery rates" and you'll quickly see.

Or you could visit my neighborhood and I'll gladly show you around.

If my wording was inappropriate or insulting, I apologize. The intent was to be inclusive not alienating.

a reply to: gmacev

Just great. Trying to investiagate a shooting and they do this? Yeah that's really helping. Rolls eyes.

So what was set off to make that explosion? A flash bang? Near a gas pump no less?

ETA: I think the current headline on this thread (Police shoot black teen at Missouri gas station) is inaccurate, misleading, and incendiary and should be changed for a second time. The person who got shot aimed a gun at a police officer.

a reply to: Dark Ghost Am I the only wondering why this is the second shooting in St. Louis area? It seems to be localized. Or are the law enforcement officers there just more prone to shoot first, instead of defusing a situation?

originally posted by: Ceeker63
a reply to: Dark Ghost Am I the only wondering why this is the second shooting in St. Louis area? It seems to be localized. Or are the law enforcement officers there just more prone to shoot first, instead of defusing a situation?

The man aimed a gun at a police officer. What do you think's going to diffuse that?

a reply to: Ceeker63

Haven't you watched the youtube vids lately? Black America (as heff put it) thinks they are now invincible and above the law. They just got done trashing a city with little repercussions. It's the group/gang mentality in that area.. I bet that stoopid SOB that pulled the gun on the cop actually thought the cop wouldn't have the balls to shoot him as to not start another riot.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
ETA: I think the current headline on this thread (Police shoot black teen at Missouri gas station) is inaccurate, misleading, and incendiary and should be changed for a second time. The person who got shot aimed a gun at a police officer.

I would have preferred a more neutral headline as well, but per T&C I have to copy the exact headline. I do trust in the ability of most ATS readers to read between the lines and not take the article's heading at face value.

thread title should be belligerent criminal loser pulls gun on cop and gets well deserved darwin award.


or are we gonna keep fomenting mob rule and race baiting?

Scenes like this leave me wondering about the fate of civilized society.
Nothing personal but I'd prefer to live far away from anyone that wants to get this agitated.
I have no clue what they think they can achieve by yelling at police and protesting.
It won't change the crime rates which is the original problem to start with.

a reply to: Dark Ghost
Yeah, not your fault. The first headline was even worse. But both just exemplify what the media is trying to do here. Incite people.