An unarmed black teenager was shot in Missouri Saturday night. This incident caused chaos and looting in St. Louis as protest against the injustice last Sunday.
Michael Brown, 18, was reportedly shot eight times by a police officer. This happened in the black suburb of the city and people were obviously enraged.
People looted shops and businesses. The city turned to mayhem as vehicles were vandalized and police blocking off access to some areas were confronted. In the street where Brown's shooting happened, stores were broken into. A small grocery store, a check-cashing store, and a boutique, as well as, a cell phone shop, a tire shop, and a sporting goods store were also looted.
A video footage showed people looting a liquor store. Protesters were standing on top of police cars while some were vandalizing the vehicles. Even items for the ladies were not spared as clothes and hair extensions were stolen.
"We will stay out here as long as you are!" the protesters shouted.
"Kill the police!" others shouted.
The looting and chaos everywhere were the people's protest after the shooting in Ferguson. Fortunately, there were no other reports of injuries according to St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley. However, arrests were made.
The black teenager was shot after a struggle over a gun in a police car. No information why Brown was inside the car.
The unnamed police officer in question was said to have fired once during the confrontation and then more were fired before he left the vehicle. The police officer is now on administrative leave.
"It is our understanding at this point in the investigation, that within the police car, there was a struggle over the officer's weapon," Jon Belmar, St. Louis County Police Chief, said in a statement at a news conference.
The mother of the teenager said his son Michael Brown was only visiting his grandma. She described his son as a "good child getting ready to go to college."
"He didn't bother nobody. They told me how many times my son was shot - eight," Lesley McSpadden, Brown's mother exclaimed.
Lesley McSpadden wants the police officer who shot her son fired and then prosecuted for the senseless killing.
"I would like to see him go to jail with the death penalty," McSpadden said.
This could be likened to what happened to 17-year-old Trayvon Martin who was shot in a neighborhood in Florida last 2012. The NAACP civil rights group in the St. Louis County wants this case to be investigated by the FBI.
