Officer Who Shot Unarmed Missouri Teen to Be Identified - East Idaho News
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Officer Who Shot Unarmed Missouri Teen to Be Identified

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GETTY 81114 PoliceTape?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1407777098012iStock/Thinkstock(FERGUSON, Mo.) — The officer under investigation for the shooting death of unarmed Missouri teen Michael Brown will be identified within the next 24 hours, police said on Monday.

Brown, who was African American, was shot multiple times and killed during a scuffle with a police officer Saturday afternoon in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Shell casings matched the officer’s gun and he was placed on administrative leave, authorities said.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson told ABC News he would be holding a press conference to announce the officer’s name sometime within the next 24 hours, by 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Brown’s family and NAACP leaders met with reporters Monday to discuss the case the violence that it has sparked in the community. NAACP CEO Cornell William Brooks said they were there to “honor [Brown’s] memory by seeking justice through non-violence.”

Attorney Benjamin Crump said that Brown’s parents were supposed to drop their son off at a technical college today, but instead they are planning his funeral. “It is not about getting angry, it is about us getting justice for Michael Brown,” he said. “Their baby was executed in broad daylight.”

Brown’s family, he added, “rejects what the police said at their press conference how this played out.”

Earlier on Monday, the FBI announced it had opened its own investigation into the case, in addition to the investigation being led by St. Louis County police.

“The FBI has initiated a federal investigation into a potential civil rights violation that will supplement the St. Louis Co PD inquiry. We will continue to work closely with the PD and coordinate efforts as appropriate,” a spokesperson for the FBI told ABC.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed the FBI probe and said in a statement, “The shooting incident in Ferguson, Missouri, this weekend deserves a fulsome review.” He said the FBI would be working with attorneys from the department’s civil rights division.

The FBI is “reviewing” the shooting death of an unarmed teenager by a police officer, federal authorities said on Monday.

Brown’s death sparked outrage in the community and across the nation. One witness, Piaget Crenshaw, told ABC News that Brown was facing the officer with his hands raised in the air when the officer shot him.

The struggle began when the officer encountered two men, one of whom was Brown, in the street outside of an apartment complex, and one of the men pushed the officer back toward his squad car, according to police. A shot was fired inside the squad car and then multiple shots were fired at Brown outside the car, killing him, authorities said.

A candlelight vigil was held Sunday night in Brown’s honor.

The vigil later erupted into violence, with some individuals breaking into stores and looting goods while others vandalized police vehicles. A fire broke out in a QuickTrip store that had been looted earlier.


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