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 News of the preliminary results of an autopsy escalated tensions
that had flared after Wednesday's killing of Mansur Ball-Bey, as
protesters and family of the slain 18-year-old questioned police
accounts that he pointed a gun at officers.
In angry clashes Wednesday night, officers in riot gear fired tear
gas and more protests followed on Thursday night.
Fresh protests are planned for Friday night in the area of the
shooting, according to social media posts by activists.
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said additional officers would be
available for the weekend in anticipation of further protests. He
said he met with Gov. Jay Nixon and the Missouri Highway Patrol
Friday to arrange for state assistance if needed.
Late Friday, St. Louis' elected prosecutor, Circuit Attorney
Jennifer M. Joyce, said her office would begin investigating now,
rather than waiting until police turn over the results of their own
investigation.
She assured St. Louisans at a news conference that her investigation
would be independent from the one St. Louis police are conducting.
"I don't work for the police chief," said Joyce. "I don't work for
the mayor. I am elected separately. When police have committed a
crime, I hold them accountable."
Less than two weeks ago the St. Louis area was flooded with
protesters from across the country marking the anniversary of the
Aug. 9, 2014, killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a
white police officer in nearby Ferguson, Missouri.
Brown's death was one of a series of police killings of unarmed
black men and teens across the United States that sparked a newly
energized civil rights movement under the banner "Black Lives
Matter".
Autopsy results show a bullet struck Ball-Bey in the upper right of
his back, hitting his heart and an artery next to it, said St. Louis
Chief Medical Examiner Michael Graham.
The autopsy findings appear to contradict the version of the
shooting given by police, who said two officers shot at Ball-Bey
when he pointed a gun at them as he fled a home where police were
serving a search warrant. Police said Ball-Bey dropped his weapon
and continued running after he was shot.
The position and track of the bullet, which did not exit Ball-Bey's
body, show that he was not turned toward officers when he was shot,
Graham said. The shot would have killed him nearly instantly, making
it difficult if not impossible for him to keep running, though if he
was running there would have been some forward momentum, Graham
said.
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Graham said it was impossible to tell from the autopsy whether
Ball-Bey was slightly turned, or was twisting his torso toward
officers when he was shot.
"There are so many variables," said Graham. "But he certainly wasn't
facing, his chest wasn't facing the officers."
The results of the autopsy are preliminary and evidence was still
being gathered, Dotson said, but he said one witness had
corroborated officer accounts that Ball-Bey had a gun.
"The complete truth takes time to put together," he told a press
conference. "We must let the physical evidence lead us to our
conclusions."
Police said they had recovered a gun, which they determined was
stolen, though they do not know if Ball-Bey's finger prints were on
it, Dotson said.
Jermaine Wooten, an attorney representing Ball-Bey's family, told
CNN Friday no witnesses had seen the teenager with a gun.
Wooten said Ball-Bey did not live in the community and was visiting
relatives but not at the house where police were serving the
warrant, he said.
"He never had a gun. He did not point back toward the officers,"
Wooten told CNN. He said Ball-Bey could not have run more than a few
feet after being shot, which contradicts police statements.
A report containing evidence gathered in Ball-Bey's shooting will be
turned over to the city attorney and the U.S. Attorney in St. Louis
for review, police officials said.
Antonio French, a St. Louis Alderman and prominent voice in the
black community, called for the circuit attorney of St. Louis to
conduct a simultaneous investigation of the shooting.
(Additional reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California;
Editing by James Dalgleish, Bernard Orr)
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