Another Black Teenager Shot by Cop

On Wednesday night, an off-duty St. Louis cop shot Vonderrit Myers Jr. , 18, seventeen times, killing him. The Wall Street Journal covered the St. Louis Police Chief’s account of the incident.

The 32-year-old white officer was working as a private security guard when he shot and killed Vonderrit Myers Jr. , 18, following an alleged struggle and after the teen allegedly fired a pistol at the officer, according to Col. Sam Dotson, the chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The officer wasn’t identified by the department.

There has been unrest in the city since the shooting of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson. The shooting brought out protesters and prompted social media invites to the people in Ferguson. There will be two probes launched to investigate the incident according to Dotson.

Col. Dotson said Wednesday’s shooting is under investigation by the department’s weeks-old Force Investigative Unit, formed specifically to look into all police-involved shootings. The officer is on administrative leave.

After the police department finishes its investigation, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office will review the findings and conduct its own independent probe, said Jennifer Joyce, the circuit attorney for the city of St. Louis. A federal investigator will also play a part in the subsequent investigation, she said.

At the time of the shooting, the officer was working off-duty for a private security firm.