St. Louis police chief Sam Dotson, left, appeals for calm alongside mayor Francis Slay, Thursday, August 20, 2015, West Side Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis. When he asked passersby for help, he was carjacked. Several onlookers surrounded individual officers, yelling at them. After he was shot, Ball-Bey collapsed a short distance away. As officers were about to enter the house, two armed men ran out the back door.
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Both officers, who are white, were unharmed, according to a police report. He was killed by two St. Louis officers after police said he came at them with a knife. Two officers fired, killing Ball-Bey. The detective in Birmingham reportedly chose not to shoot a suspect, which spared the suspect’s life, but the officer was beaten unconscious in the process.
“If he takes off running after pointing a gun at them, then that is someone a reasonable officer could believe will be a continuing threat”, he said.
After protests in and around Fountain Park on Wednesday and Thursday, Dotson said his officers are on a heightened state of alert for the weekend.
By nightfall, fires were set near the scene of the shooting near Page Boulevard and Walton Avenue, with at least one vehicle and vacant dwelling consumed. “Throwing bricks and bottles is not the way to get change to happen”.
According to Dotson, the crowd ignored requests to clear the road and inert smoke was deployed.
In that agreement, police pledged not to use tear gas to frighten or punish people lawfully exercising their constitutional rights. “People moved to the sidewalk and peace was restored”, Dotson said. There were two officers in the alley. They have been placed on administrative leave.
Violence has erupted approximately a quarter of a mile from where a demonstration was underway to commemorate the one-year anniversary of another young black man, 25-year-old Kajieme Powell killed by police.
“Another youth down by the hands of police”, said Dex Dockett, 42, who lives nearby. “What could have been done different to de-escalate rather than escalate? You’ve obtained to have the proper of cops to interact in a majority of these neighbourhoods”. “Conditions like this make us need to hold the police out of the neighbourhood”.
An attorney for Myers’ family has insisted he was unarmed and Flanery planted the gun near Myers’ body. Louis Post-Dispatch, “They always say that”.
St Louis is close to Ferguson, where a police killing of an unarmed black man past year prompted angry protests and a renewed discussion on race and policing in the US.
Relations have been tense between police and some residents in St. Louis for some time now.
“I’m not sure why St. Louis is still dropping the ball on this”.
Many of those who gathered Wednesday afternoon voiced anger at police.
As bad as they are, those arrest stats may nonetheless be understating the problem.
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Dotson told journalists the gun the suspect pointed at them was determined to be stolen. “Certainly the good people in this neighborhood should not be plagued by the violence“. The last few weeks have been marked by events commemorating the shooting death of Michael Brown. He asked people in the community to not stand for looting and burning.
