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 The county police officers, who are assigned to Jennings, which
like Ferguson is a suburb of metropolitan St. Louis, have been
placed on administrative leave following the late Wednesday
shooting, St. Louis County Police Sergeant Brian Schellman said on
Thursday.
Police identified the dead man as Michael Willis Jr., 42, of St.
Louis. Willis is black and the two officers involved in the shooting
are white, Schellman said. Each officer has four years service in
the county police department, he said.
Schellman did not identify the officers, but said records showed
that Willis had served eight years in prison. Police recovered a
loaded .22-caliber rifle at the scene, he said.
The incident started when a woman called police earlier on Wednesday
night reporting a man knocking on her door armed with what she
described as a sawed-off shotgun, Schellman said.
The man, who witnesses said was looking for an ex-girlfriend, left
before police arrived, but returned later on Wednesday, Schellman
said.
As officers drove to the residence a second time, they saw a black
vehicle approaching and got out of their cars to talk to the driver,
he said.
The vehicle accelerated toward them and the officers jumped out of
the way as it crashed into one police car and then the second,
Schellman said. The man exited the vehicle carrying a long gun and
ran behind some townhouses, he said.
The officers chased the man on foot, and he took cover behind some
construction equipment, Schellman said. The man pointed the rifle
directly at police and the officers fired, killing him, he said.
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The rifle turned out to have a bullet jammed in its chamber,
Schellman said.
Weeks of demonstrations have followed the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael
Brown, 18, by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson. Brown's family,
protesters and civil rights leaders have demanded that Wilson be
charged with a crime and that the St. Louis County prosecutor be
replaced with a special prosecutor.
Brown's shooting is under investigation by a St. Louis County grand
jury and the U.S. Justice Department. No charges have been filed.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Missouri; Editing by
David Bailey)
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