Police Officer Kills Teen 2 Miles From Ferguson

The town of Berkeley, Mo., is roughly 2 miles from Ferguson and today finds itself dealing with some Ferguson-like protests after a police officer shot and killed a black teen who was allegedly armed last night. Per a statement posted to Facebook by St. Louis County Police, the officer, doing a "routine business check," approached two males who were standing outside a Mobil gas station at 11:15pm; the officer says one pointed a gun at him. "Fearing for his life, the Berkeley Officer fired several shots, striking the subject, fatally wounding him. The second subject fled the scene." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a woman at the scene identified the dead 18-year-old as her son, Antonio Martin.

The body lay on the ground for at least two hours, as what KMOV describes as "large crowds" of protesters began to gather at the scene. Its reporters describe police in riot gear as being present and observed flashes of light. One reporter tells the BBC, "As soon as I got there police started firing off flash bangs, which are used to, hopefully, disperse some of the crowd." KSDK reports things heated up around 2am, when protesters reportedly hurled rocks and bricks. About a dozen protesters remained five hours after the shooting. Though his mother tells KSDK that Martin did not have a gun and was just on his way to see his girlfriend, county police confirm they have recovered "the deceased subject's" handgun. The Post-Dispatch notes that it appears there are security cameras at the scene; police say they'll release that video at 8am EST. (More Berkeley stories.)