Police yesterday said a black teenager was fatally shot after he allegedly pointed a gun at an officer in a town near Ferguson, Missouri, scene of a prior police shooting that sparked nationwide protests.
The incident took place late on Tuesday at a gas station, while the officer was on a routine patrol.
A crowd of about 100 protesters gathered at the scene in Berkeley, 3.2km from Ferguson, where a white police officer fatally shot an 18-year-old unarmed black man in August.
Photo: EPA
Local television stations reported that someone in the crowd lobbed fireworks into the gas station, and police used pepper spray to try to subdue the crowd as tensions rose.
St Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman said in a statement that the officer from the city of Berkeley was conducting a routine check at the gas station when he noticed two men and approached them.
Schellman said one of the men then pulled a handgun and pointed it at the officer.
“Fearing for his life, the Berkeley officer fired several shots, striking the subject, fatally wounding him,” Schellman said.
However, news reports said some eyewitnesses disputed that account.
The victim was identified by local media, citing his mother, as 18-year-old Antonio Martin.
“His girlfriend told me that the police was messing with them,” the woman, who gave her name as Toni Martin, told reporters.
“When he was trying to get up and run, they started shooting him. They won’t tell me nothing. They won’t even let me see my baby,” she said.
Local officials, who reportedly were planning a press conference later yesterday, were said to have video footage of the shooting recorded by a security camera at the gas station.
Police said a handgun had been recovered at the scene and that the second man had fled.
The shooting is the latest in several such incidents that have led to months of protests over how police in the US interact with the black community.
It follows the racially charged fatal shooting of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson.
Already tense racial relations were further frayed over the weekend fatal shootings of two officers in Brooklyn, New York, by an apparently emotionally disturbed man whose online postings suggested that he was motivated by a desire for revenge over the recent police killings of unarmed black men.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source