Darren Wilson (police officer)
Location of Ferguson, Missouri, within St. Louis County, and St. Louis County within Missouri
|
|
| Time | 12:01 p.m. – 12:03 p.m. (CDT) |
|---|---|
| Date | August 9, 2014 |
| Location | Ferguson, Missouri, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 38°44′18″N 90°16′26″W / 38.73847°N 90.27387°WCoordinates: 38°44′18″N 90°16′26″W / 38.73847°N 90.27387°W |
| Participants |
|
| Deaths | Michael Brown |
| Non-fatal injuries | Darren Wilson (during struggle) |
| Charges | None filed |
| Litigation | Wrongful death lawsuit pending |
The shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, a northern suburb of St. Louis. Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, 28, a white Ferguson police officer, after reportedly robbing a convenience store. The initially disputed circumstances of the shooting sparked existing tensions in the predominantly black city, where protests and civil unrest erupted. The events received considerable attention in the U.S. and elsewhere, attracting protesters from outside the region. They generated a vigorous national debate about the relationship between law enforcement and African Americans, and about police use-of-force doctrine in Missouri and nationwide. A St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, and he was exonerated of criminal wrongdoing by the United States Department of Justice.
Security camera footage, from shortly before the shooting, recorded Brown taking several packages of cigarillos from a nearby convenience store and assaulting the store clerk who tried to stop him, according to the Department of Justice examination. Brown was accompanied by his friend Dorian Johnson.
Wilson had been notified by police dispatch of the reported robbery and descriptions of the two suspects. He encountered Brown and Johnson as they were walking down the middle of the street. Wilson said that he realized that the two men matched the robbery suspects' descriptions. Wilson backed up his cruiser and blocked them.
An altercation ensued with Brown and Wilson struggling through the window of the police vehicle for control of Wilson's gun until it was fired. Brown and Johnson then fled, with Wilson in pursuit of Brown.
Brown stopped and turned to face the officer, then Brown moved toward him. Wilson fired at Brown several times, all shots striking him in the front, with the possible exception of the two bullets fired into Brown's right arm. In the entire altercation, Wilson fired a total of twelve bullets; the last was probably the fatal shot.
Brown was unarmed and moving toward Wilson when the final shots were fired. Witness reports differed as to what Brown was doing with his hands when he was shot, but the U.S. Department of Justice found that those witnesses who said that Brown had his hands up in surrender were not credible.
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Wikipedia