XPost: stl.dining, alt.politics.guns, soc.culture.south-africa   
   XPost: alt.society.liberalism   
   From: white-knights@clinton-klavern.biz   
      
   (CNN) -- A Missouri police officer shoots and kills a teenager   
   just two miles from the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where   
   another young man's death months earlier set off protests across   
   the country.   
      
   But even though both cases involved white officers and black   
   teens, don't compare Tuesday night's shooting in Berkeley to   
   what happened in the town down the road, Berkeley's mayor says.   
      
   Surveillance video appears to show a person -- identified by   
   police and his family as Antonio Martin, 18 -- pointing a gun at   
   an officer in a gas station parking lot in Berkeley right before   
   the officer fatally shot the teen, Berkeley Mayor Theodore   
   Hoskins told reporters Wednesday.   
      
   St. Louis County Police released on YouTube videos from three   
   different angles that captured parts of the scene.   
      
   The shooting led to a tense couple of hours at the station,   
   where scuffles with police broke out -- and what appeared to be   
   lit fireworks were thrown -- as scores of people gathered to see   
   what happened in an area still emotional over the August 9   
   shooting of Michael Brown.   
      
   But Hoskins, who is black, said that this shooting cannot be   
   likened to Brown's death, in part because unlike the Ferguson   
   case, this one was captured on video and allegedly involves an   
   armed teen.   
      
   "We reviewed the video and it appears that there was a gun   
   pointed at the officer before the officer fired," Hoskins said.   
   "(It) does not appear ... that the police officer initiated."   
      
   Hoskins promised a thorough investigation.   
      
   "I will not tolerate brutality of any policeman on our   
   citizens," Hoskins told CNN. He added that people can "rest   
   assured that I will investigate this independently and make a   
   complete report to the community."   
      
   Gov. Jay Nixon issued a brief statement saying, "The events in   
   Berkeley are a reminder that law enforcement officers have a   
   difficult, and often dangerous, job in protecting themselves and   
   law-abiding citizens."   
      
   A small group of protesters marched along some roads, including   
   a highway, on Wednesday night, with some help from police.   
      
   "Police are actually blocking the intersections for the   
   protesters," St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Nicholas J.C.   
   Pistor tweeted.   
      
   Martin faced a series of criminal charges over the past 15   
   months, including assault, armed robbery, unlawful use of a   
   weapon, armed criminal action and stealing, CNN affiliate KMOV   
   reported. The station showed Martin's tearful mother Toni Martin   
   saying her son was "trying to get his life back together."   
      
   Police: Officer was investigating alleged theft   
      
   County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the shooting was tragic, but   
   stressed the teen pointed a gun "straight out" at the officer,   
   who fired in self-defense.   
      
   "I understand the emotions ... but I think we need to understand   
   the context of what happens ... with these types of situations,"   
   Belmar, whose department is investigating the shooting, told   
   reporters.   
      
   Belmar said the officer, a 34-year-old, six-year Berkeley police   
   veteran, was responding to a report of a theft when he pulled   
   into the parking lot of a Mobil gas station in Berkeley shortly   
   before 11:15 p.m.   
      
   He left his cruiser and talked to two men in the lot.   
   Eventually, as the officer stood by the driver's side tire of   
   his cruiser, one of the men backed away from the cruiser's   
   passenger side headlight, then stepped forward again pointing a   
   gun at the officer, Belmar said.   
      
   The officer, whom police did not name, lost balance and fell as   
   he moved back in reaction, but managed to fire what   
   investigators believe were three shots, hitting the gunman at   
   least once, Belmar said.   
      
   The slain teen is not believed to have fired his weapon, a   
   loaded 9mm handgun that police recovered at the scene, Belmar   
   said. Police later released a photo of the weapon.   
      
   Meanwhile, there was a shooting in St. Louis on Wednesday. CNN   
   affiliate KMOV reported one person was shot to death and three   
   were in critical condition. No other details were immediately   
   available.   
      
   Surveillance video, but body camera wasn't worn   
      
   In the Martin case, video released by authorities showed a   
   second man nearby who fled when the shooting occurred.   
   Authorities are looking to interview him.   
      
   Martin's father, Jerome Green, said his son had indicated he was   
   going out to meet his girlfriend and had not mentioned any other   
   person who might be with them.   
      
   "He was supposed to come home," Green said. "We're getting ready   
   for the holiday; everyone wanted to see him. My grandmother   
   hadn't seen him for a while."   
      
   The officer involved was given a body camera before he left for   
   patrol, but he wasn't wearing it during the shooting, possibly   
   because he was distracted when a supervisor gave it to him   
   earlier Tuesday, Belmar said.   
      
   Hoskins said this didn't bother him, in part because the city,   
   with three cameras for its 31 officers, had just started   
   training officers to use them.   
      
   The cruiser's dashboard camera also wasn't recording, because   
   the car's emergency lights hadn't been activated, Belmar said.   
   The officer will be placed on administrative leave until the   
   investigation is completed.   
      
   Green said Martin lived with his parents, brother and sister.   
      
   Protest, scuffle   
      
   Protesters late Tuesday and early Wednesday gathered around an   
   ethnically diverse group of dozens of police officers, who stood   
   between them and the scene. People in the crowd screamed at   
   police. Others spoke more calmly.   
      
   What looked like a firework exploded near a gas pump, scattering   
   people and temporarily filling the area with thick, white smoke,   
   video from CNN affiliate KMOV showed.   
      
   Four people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting officers,   
   Belmar said. One police officer was sent to an emergency room   
   after injuring himself while trying to get away from the   
   firework, Belmar said.   
      
   Another officer was treated at a hospital after being hit in the   
   head with a rock or a brick, Belmar said.   
      
   St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer David Carson said some of   
   the protesters damaged police cars. CNN showed images of one   
   squad car with a large dent in its side.   
      
   KMOV video showed a white plume rising at another location down   
   the street. Belmar said someone had tried to set a fire at a   
   nearby store, but someone extinguished it.   
      
   Before sunup, protesters thinned out, and those remaining stood   
   calmly behind police tape.   
      
   Tuesday's incident came about a month after a St. Louis County   
   grand jury declined to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren   
   Wilson for fatally shooting Michael Brown on August 9.   
      
   Authorities said Brown, who was black, wasn't armed at the time,   
   but that he tried to take Wilson's gun while the officer was in   
   his vehicle during an encounter in Ferguson. Some witness   
   accounts said Wilson left his car and eventually fired while   
   Brown, 18, had his hands up in surrender, but others disputed   
   this. Police said Wilson fired in self-defense as Brown charged   
   him.   
      
      
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