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New Post has been published on http://www.brianbrown.net/2014/10/10/ferguson-tensions-rise-after-second-shooting/

Ferguson tensions rise after second shooting

A woman places a candle at a memorial to Vonderrit Myers on Oct. 9 in St. Louis. Myers was shot Wednesday by a St. Louis police officer.(Photo: Jeff Roberson, AP)

ST. LOUIS —Tensions in and around Ferguson, Mo., continued to rise late Friday, two nights after an off-duty white police officer shot and killed a black teenager who, police said, had shot at the officer.

Vonderrit Myers Jr., 18, was killed Wednesday night in the Shaw neighborhood o

f St. Louis, about 16 miles from Ferguson, one day before the two-month anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen shot by white police officer Darren Wilson.

Myers’ family and friends insist he did not have a gun and that he was murdered by an overzealous officer who assumed wrongdoing because he was black. Police say the teen fired three rounds at the officer before the policeman responded with at least 17 rounds.

RELATED: Weekend of protests

The incident raised concerns that the added anger over Myers’ death might lead to more police-demonstrator clashes during four days of events planned for this weekend to protest Brown’s shooting. Just before midnight Friday, about 400 protesters had gathered, some of whom were chanting face-to-face with police officers wearing riot gear.

“An investigation will decide if the officer’s behavior was appropriate,” St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Sam Dotson said.

Dotson said a 9mm Ruger handgun and three projectiles were found at the scene.

“It is another senseless killing, and it’s almost the same thing as Michael Brown except this time the cops are saying he had a gun,” said Doug Hollis of St. Louis, who did not witness the shooting. “He (Myers) didn’t have anything but a sandwich.” Hollis, who is a cousin of both Brown and Myers, said police might have planted the gun at the scene.​

Myers lived with his grandmother a block away from Shaw Market, a store where he and four friends went around 8 p.m., according to Hollis, 50, a funeral director.

Berhe Beyene, who works at the market, said he sold Myers a $2.99 sandwich moments before the teen died.

“It’s devastating,” Beyene said. “I have known him since he was 3 or 4 years old. They can make up stories, but he was a good kid.”

Thursday, Hollis and several family members stood inside Shaw Market watching video from the store’s surveillance cameras showing the last moments of Myers’ life. People cried and hugged as they watched the teen order his meal and leave. One man, who said he was Myers’ uncle, cried out, “They are killing our kids and getting away with it — cold-blooded murder.”

Blanche Campbell, 38, said she saw Myers go into the store and watched as the off-duty police officer circled a nearby street. “He (the officer) said he was looking for someone who just robbed a house,” Campbell said.

Once Myers left the store, Campbell says the teen walked to the officer’s car and exchanged words. Myers then walked away from the car and the officer got out and walked after him, Campbell said. She said she was inside Shaw Market when she heard two gunshots.

Dotson said the shooting in Shaw unfolded after the unidentified 32-year-old officer chased three black teens who fled as he drove by.One of the teens approached the officer “in an aggressive manner,” Dotson said. The two got into a “physical altercation” and the officer saw Myers’ hand at his waistband and thought the teenager had a gun.

Dotson said the officer, a six-year veteran of the St. Louis police force, did not open fire because “he wanted to be certain it was a gun.” Myers then allegedly turned and “pointed the gun at the officer and fired at least three rounds before his gun jammed, Dotson said.

The officer shot back, killing Myers. The officer was not injured.

Hollis described Myers as a “good kid” who was a high school senior and wanted to become an electrical engineer. “In life, all kids have their ups and downs,” he said.Myers was wearing an ankle bracelet ordered by a court as a condition of bail in a previous gun charge, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the newspaper, Myers was to go on trial in November on charges of unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest. The case, according to court documents, involved a high-speed car chase and crash. Myers, who was a passenger, allegedly ran from police and tossed a .380-caliber pistol into a sewage drain, where police found it.

Jerryl Christmas, an attorney for Myers’ family, said police have not stated a reason that would have given the officer probable cause to pursue Myers and his friends.

“It shows how anxious these officers are — especially Caucasian officers — to use excessive force toward African-American children,” Christmas said. “Why are you even approaching this individual but for him being an African-American male with two or three other African-American males standing on the street?”

People in Ferguson protesting Michael Brown’s death have organized four days of activities in the area starting Friday.

Myers’ death has Stan Taylor, 37, a cellphone sales agent, thinking more violence will come.

“They (police) are sparking war. It’s going to be us against them,” Taylor said. “Turning the other cheek is not getting the job done.”

Ryan Starks, 46, who said his son grew up with Myers, doesn’t expect violence and looting to happen in the Shaw neighborhood as it did in Ferguson. “We respect our neighbors, and everybody out here is family,” he said.

“We still haven’t gotten over the first one,” Hollis said. “My question to the police departments all across America, is when is it going to stop? When are you going to stop pinpointing every black guy as being a bad guy?”

Osagyefo Sekou, who is helping coordinate the weekend events, said Myers’ death adds pain to an already hurting community.

“It’s upping the ante,” he said. “It’s wound upon wound upon wound. That’s why the young people immediately took to the streets. It’s like how many more times will pastors have to preach funerals of children killed by the police?”

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