Published: 7:57AM Thursday December 25, 2014 Source: AP
Violent protests have broken out in suburban St Louis after another black 18-year-old was fatally shot by a white police officer.
St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the officer was questioning the 18-year-old and another man about a theft late Tuesday local time at a convenience store in Berkeley when the young man pulled a 9mm handgun on him.
The officer stumbled backward but fired three shots, one of which struck the victim, Mr Belmar said.
Berkeley is just a short distance from Ferguson, Missouri, where a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, on August 9.
Brown's death sparked weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations and a grand jury's decision to not charge Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting has spurred a nationwide movement to protest police brutality.
Mr Belmar declined to name the 18-year-old killed in Berkeley, but a woman at the scene told reporters she was his mother and identified him as Antonio Martin. Mr Belmar said he was 18-years-old and black.
The 34-year-old white police officer, a six-year veteran of the Berkeley Police Department, is on administrative leave pending an investigation, Mr Belmar said.
It's the third fatal shooting of a black suspect by a white police officer in the St Louis area since Brown was killed and each shooting has been met by protests.
This most recent demonstration involved up to 300 people turned violent.
More than 50 police officers, some in riot gear, responded. Mr Belmar said officers used pepper spray but not tear gas. Four people were arrested on charges of assaulting officers.
Mr Belmar said three explosive devices, possibly fireworks, were tossed near gas pumps. Some protesters threw rocks and bricks. One officer was hit by a brick and treated for facial cuts. Another was treated for a leg injury sustained as he tried to get away from one of the explosives.
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