Police: Officer fatally shoots armed man in town near Ferguson, MissouriA police officer shot and killed an armed man late Tuesday in Berkeley, Missouri, said St. Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman.
Police say the man had pointed a gun at the officer, who fired out of fear for his own life.
His mother, Toni Martin, identified the dead man as 18-year-old Antonio Martin.
Berkeley is a St. Louis suburb that borders on the city of Ferguson, where the controversial shooting of black teen Michael Brown by a white police officer triggered nationwide protests.
The officer with the City of Berkeley Police Department encountered two men during a routine check at a Mobil gas station, Schellman said. He got out of his squad car and approached them.
One of the men pointed a gun at the officer, who fired multiple shots at him, fatally wounding him. The second man fled.
Gun, body
A handgun lay in the parking lot with a bright yellow marker placed next to it, video from CNN affiliate KMOV showed. A body lay covered nearby. It was later placed on a stretcher and loaded into the back of a van.
Berkeley police asked St. Louis County police to handle the investigation of the shooting. The killed man's handgun was recovered at the scene, Schellman said.
The gas station appeared to be outfitted with surveillance cameras, which were pointed at the parking lot.
Mother speaks
Martin told CNN affiliate KMOV that her son had gone to see his girlfriend, who lived near the station and was with her at the time of the shooting. She said the girlfriend notified her of her son's shooting.
Martin said Antonio turned 18 in September. He had been expelled from school but was trying to get his life back together, she said, and she was encouraging him to join Job Corps.
Video posted to Vimeo showed Martin crying in the arms of other people.
Protest, scuffle
Protesters gathered around an ethnically diverse group of dozens of police officers, who stood between them and the scene. People in the crowd screamed at police. Others spoke more calmly.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer David Carson told CNN's Hala Gorani that some of the protesters damaged police cars. CNN showed images of one squad car with a large dent in its side.
A scuffle broke out, and officers grabbed some of the demonstrators and led them off in handcuffs.
"At one point, an explosive device, like a large firecracker or firework was thrown into the middle of the fight and exploded. That kind of scattered a lot of people," Carson said.
Video posted to YouTube showed two smoking objects flying toward the station, where police stood. One of them emitted white smoke, while the other exploded.
KMOV video showed a white plume rising at another location down the street.
Among the protesters were ministers and participants in Ferguson demonstrations after Brown's shooting death, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Before sunup, protesters thinned out, and those remaining grew calmer.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/24/justice/missouri-officer-involved-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 Editor's note: To recap, during a press conference just now St. Louis County police confirmed that an 18-year-old, identified by family and community members as Antonio Martin, was shot and killed by a police officer in Berkeley, Mo., after Martin lifted a 9 mm handgun at the officer. The incident occurred while the officer was responding to a larceny call. Surveillance video from the scene has been used to corroborate this information, and police are expected to release more details later today. The officer was not using a body camera or dash camera at the time of the shooting, and has been placed on administrative leave as the investigation continues. - Aaron
