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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Matthew Weaver and Ed Pilkington

Antonio Martin shooting: surveillance video shows victim raising a gun — live updates

Protesters gather at a petrol station in St Louis, Missouri, where a black teenager was shot dead by police. The person filming in the suburb Berkeley claims to have been pepper-sprayed by police and says she can see bricks being thrown. Police say the 18-year-old victim, named locally as Antonio Martin, pointed a gun at an officer

Summary

We’re going to wrap up the live blog now. Thanks for joining us. Here’s a summary of what has happened so far:

  • St Louis police say the unidentified officer who had been called to the scene to investigate a reported theft shot three rounds. They say they currently believe one of those three bullets struck Antonio Martin and killed him.
  • Martin’s mother, Toni Martin-Green, has expressed her disbelief at what happened. “This doesn’t make any sense for them to kill my son like this,” she said.
  • Local officials, including the African American mayor of Berkeley, Theodore Hoskins, have been quick to stress the differences between the majority black suburb and nearby Ferguson. Hoskins said more than half of Berkeley’s police force is black, and said there was greater inter-racial understanding in the area.
  • Questions remain over the lack of police video footage of the shooting. It has emerged that the police officer who shot Martin had access to a body cam, but was not wearing it at the time, and that the camera mounted on the dashboard of his vehicle was also not in operation, as it only turns on when the car’s lights are on.
  • Police are hoping to avoid a repeat of last night’s protests. The demonstrations in the immediate aftermath of the shooting involved up to 300 people; fireworks-like explosive devices were detonated near gas pumps, apparently by members of the crowd.

Updated

St Louis County Police have confirmed the identity of the teenager who was shot dead last night. As local reports rightly suggested, he is Antonio Martin, 18. St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference earlier today that they had delayed releasing Martin’s name in order to ensure that his extended family could be notified first.

The Democratic governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, has just released a statement on the shooting of Antonio Martin. He certainly keeps his thoughts concise. This is the entire statement:

“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.”

Correction: This blog previously stated that the officer was wearing a body cam at the time of the shooting, but that it was not activated. In fact, St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a press conference that the officer had the camera inside his car, not on his person.

Updated

At a press conference, the mayor of Berkeley, Missouri, has just been drawing a distinction between last night’s police shooting and the events in Ferguson. The mayor, Theodore Hoskins, said that in contrast to Ferguson, the leadership of Berkeley, including that of the police, was largely African American as was most of the police rank and file.

“In a city that is 85% black, we have a majority black police department, so our experience is different. Our police officers are more sensitive, and it is because of the black and white relationship you get a better understanding.”

Hoskins said of the 31 police officers in Berkeley, 17 or 18 were African American.

The mayor said that he was not that concerned about reports that the police officer who shot Martin had not recorded the event on a body cam, given how new the technology was to the force and that officers have not been fully trained in its usage. He said it would have been “helpful” if there had been footage from a body cam, “and in the future when we are properly trained there will be a severe penalty for any officer who does not turn it on”.

Hoskins urged the public and media not to “jump to conclusions”.

“All protests are different,” he said. “Last night you would have thought it was Ferguson again. There is a jump to conclusion that all policemen are guilty. We all know that 95% of our police serve our community well, so jumping to conclusions is not acceptable.”

Antonio Martin’s mother has spoken to a local reporter, saying, “This doesn’t make any sense for them to kill my son like this”.

Speaking to the St Louis Post-Dispatch , Toni Martin-Green said Antonio, the oldest of her four children, was “like any other kid who had dreams or hopes.”

The dead teenager’s father, Jerome Green, told the paper that he had recently been trying get work through the Job Corps. “In the last year, he was really trying to find who he was. He was ready to take the world on. He knew he had parents who loved him. He had that support.”

The family expressed their disbelief that he would have wielded a gun at a police officer. “Why would he pull out a gun against the police? That’s the thing I don’t get. It just doesn’t add up,” his grandmother Margret Chandler said.

Updated

The Guardian has uploaded video of Antonio Martin’s mother arriving at the scene.

Toni Martin, whose son Antonio Martin has been shot dead by a police officer in Berkeley, Missouri, arrives at the petrol station where he was killed. She says she believes the pair were walking to the shop when the incident took place. Violent scuffles have broken out between police and protesters since Martin died

Updated

Here’s a summary of the main points from St Louis police chief Jon Belmar’s press conference:

  • A 34 year old white officer, who had six years experience, encountered two suspects at the Mobil gas station after responding to a report of a theft. He didn’t know that one of the men was armed. The officer fired three shots after the victim raised a pistol at arm’s length. Surveillance video from the Mobil station appears to support the police version of events. Only one of the shots hit the victim. No shots were fired by the victim’s “defaced” 9mm pistol.
  • Belmar said the shooting was a tragedy for the victim’s family and for the police officer involved. The officer will “carry the weight” of this for the rest of his life, Belmar said. He said the incident underscores the pressures police officers face.
  • Two witnesses have given statements to the police. The police are looking for the friend of the victim, who fled the scene.
  • A crowd of up 300 protesters gathered at the Mobil gas station after the shooting and four arrests were made after police officers were assaulted. Several bricks were thrown at police officers and three “explosive devices” thought to be fireworks bound together were set off. One police officer was hurt in the leg from one of the explosions another was injured by a brick. Belmar said it was “disturbing” that protesters came armed with bricks and explosives. The protest has since “diminished”.
  • Belmar said it was “unreasonable” to expect the officer to have responded with mace or a taser when he was faced with a suspect raising a gun. “The officer responded with what he thought was commensurate force at the time,” Belmar said. He added: “Bad choices were made ... this individual could have complied with the officer. It didn’t have to end with him approaching him with his arm extended and an 9mm pistol in his hand.”
  • The police officer had a body cam, but was not wearing it at the time of the shooting. His police vehicle was also fitted with a video camera but it is only activated when the car’s red lights are flashing, and they were not at the time. Belmar said officers were “not used to” the new technology. The surveillance footage from the gas station was described as “really pretty good”.
  • The victim had a record of three armed assaults and other charges for theft since he turned 17. His body was removed at around 1.30am. The unnamed police officer involved has been placed on administrative leave while the fatal shooting is investigated.

Updated

Here’s the second half of Belmar’s press conference (apologies for a brief missing segment between recordings).

Updated

Here’s audio of the first half of St Louis police chief Jon Belmar’s press conference.

Crowds have diminished at the scene, Belmar said. He said four arrests were made, all for assaults against police officers.

Belmar confirms that the officer’s body cam was not on during the shooting. The officer involved has been put on leave. He will be talking to investigators and psychologists, Belmar said.

Belmar takes reporters through the surveillance video which it released earlier.

Belmar concedes that he couldn’t see a “muzzle flash” from the victims weapon in the surveillance video, before he was shot dead.

Belmar said it was “disturbing” that protesters took rocks to the gas station to throw at police.

The victim was “known to law enforcement” with a record for assault and fire arms offences, Belmar said.

The police vehicle used by the officer had a “dash cam”. It is unclear if it was on. The car is being examined. Belmar said the video at the gas station was “pretty good”.

The police officer is a white male, with six years experience, Belmar said. He was responding to reports of a theft.

'Bad choices were made'

Belmar said the officer did not have time to fire a Taser at the victim. He conceded: “bad choices were made”.

Several objects were thrown at police and three explosives were fired, Belmar said. One police officer was injured in one explosion, he added. Another was injured by a brick.

Belmar denied that police fired pepper spray.

Belmar says police are searching for the victim’s friend. He said he was a key witness.

Belmar said the victim’s body was taken away from the scene at 1.30am local time.

Three shots fired

St Louis police chief Jon Belmar starts the press conference by sending condolences to the family. He said the officer involved in the shooting had six years experience.

He confirms that the victim raised a pistol, before being shot three times by the police officer.

No shots were fired by the suspect, Belmar said.

Surveillance video released

Surveillance video has been released by St Louis police appearing to show a man raising a gun before he was shot.

The incident takes place in the top left of the picture.

Summary

While we wait for the police press conference to begin. Here’s a summary of what we know so far:

  • A St Louis police officer shot and killed a black teenager within five miles of the spot where Michael Brown was killed by a white officer in Ferguson in August. The police said an 18-year-old man was killed when he began drawing a gun. A weapon was recovered from the scene. A second man fled the scene.
  • The victim was named locally as Antonio Martin. His mother, Toni, said she did not think he was armed, and accused the police of “messing” with her son and a friend.
  • Within hours of the shooting up to 100 protesters gathered at the Mobil gas station where it took place. Police fire pepper spray and arrested several people after fights broke out.
  • A police officer requested “crowd control” assistance within minutes of the shooting, according to a police radio recording. Protesters were confronted by police in riot gear at the scene.
  • Police are under pressure to release surveillance footage of the incident. A police press conference is due to take place and an investigation is under way.

Updated

Police called for 'crowd control' within minutes of shooting

St Louis Police requested “crowd control” officers within minutes of the shooting, according to a recording purporting to be from police radio after the incident.

The officer gives the time of the request as 11.35pm, some 20 minutes after police said the shooting took place.

He is heard to say: “Requesting assistance 6800 North Hanley at the Mobil Gas station. I just had a shooting and am requesting assistance for crowd control”.

Updated

Reuters reminds us of the context of rising tensions between the police and the community in the US before last night’s shooting.

Berkeley neighbours the suburb of Ferguson, where police officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown on 9 August - a killing that fuelled criticism of the way police and the criminal justice system treat minority groups.


Protests in Ferguson have taken place for months and spilled over into violence when a grand jury decided not to charge Wilson.


Demonstrations in cities across the country gained in momentum when a New York grand jury decided not to charge police over the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man whom police tackled and put in a chokehold.


Before the latest incident, about 200 people marched in New York on Tuesday, defying Mayor Bill de Blasio’s call for protests to be suspended after two police officers were killed in their patrol car on Saturday in an apparent revenge attack.


In Los Angeles, police said they would investigate whether any officers were involved in the singing of a song, at a party organized by a retired policeman, that poked fun at the Ferguson killing.


The lyrics of the song, on a video posted on entertainment news website TMZ, said: “Michael Brown learned a lesson about a messin’ with a badass policeman.”

St Louis police could release surveillance footage of the incident when they give a press conference in just over an hours time, according to reporters at the scene.

There is also some speculation that CCTV footage from a shop opposite the Mobil station will be released when Berkeley mayor Ted Hoskins gives a press conference later.

Updated

The Mobil Gas station is only five miles away from the point where the unarmed teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by police in August.

Updated

Toni Martin said she did not think her son was carrying a weapon when he was killed, according to NBC news.

The police claimed that the victim was drawing a gun when he was shot dead. Later a gun was recovered from the scene.

She also told reporters that she found out about the fatal shooting from Antonio’s girlfriend.

St Louis County police are due to hold a press conference at 7am local time (it is 5.17am now).

So far the force has just issued a brief statement about the incident.

The victim’s mother Toni Martin said the police were “messing” with her son Antonio and his friend before he was shot dead.

Speaking to reporters she claimed he was shot when he got up to run from the police.

She added: “He was a good young man ... trying to get his life back together. We was trying to get him back in school and stuff.”

A crowd of about 100 people gathered at the Mobil gas station at the height of the protests, but the scene is now calmer, according to reports and video.

AP has this account:

The protesters gathered early Wednesday milled around the gas pumps at the station, some taunting and yelling at police officers.

Some had strands of yellow police-line tape draped around their neck, with others using it as a headband.

Authorities from multiple agencies, some in riot gear, stood among the protesters.

Brown’s death led to weeks of protests and some looting in the St. Louis area, actions that were renewed last month when a grand jury chose not to indict the officer who shot him.

Some minor damage has been reported in the area around the gas station.

Updated

The incident is trending on Twitter #AntonioMartin after the victim was named locally.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch named the dead man as 18-year-old Antonio Martin, citing his mother.

His identify has yet to be confirmed by police.

Updated

Before fights broke out at the gas station, protesters questioned why the police were dressed in riot gear. “Why are you in riot gear, I don’t see no riot here,” they chanted according to this Vine:

Updated

This map shows how close the latest shooting is to Ferguson where the black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by a police officer in August.

Updated

Surveillance footage

The fatal shooting was caught on surveillance video, which may be released by police later today, according to reports.

Updated

Police arrest protesters

There are varying reports about the number of arrests made at the protests as video emerges of what appeared to be fireworks being set off at the gas station.

Police fire pepper spray

Police fire pepper spray at protesters at the scene after objects were thrown at the police, according to several reports.

Video of scuffles

Video has emerged of earlier scuffles and fights that broke out between police and protesters in the wake of the fatal shooting.

Police photograph a gun on the ground, following a shooting Tuesday at a gas station
Police photograph a gun on the ground, following a shooting Tuesday at a gas station. Photograph: David Carson/AP

Hundreds of protesters are reported to have gathered at the Mobil gas station in Berkeley, Missouri where the teenage victim was killed.

The station is being protected by police dressed in riot gear.

Updated

Summary

Welcome to our live coverage of the aftermath of another fatal shooting of a black teenager by the US police.

Here’s what we know so far:

You can follow a live stream of the scene on Ustream.

Updated

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