St. Louis police have shot and killed an unidentified man a couple miles away from a protest over the St. Louis police shooting of 25-year-old Kajieme Powell one year ago.
Soon after demonstrators started to congregate at the site of the shooting, Police Chief Sam Dotson called a press conference where he told reporters that the man had been shooting at the police. The officer who fired has reportedly been placed on administrative leave.
According to Joe Millitzer of KTVI, Dotson said that “two armed suspects ran out of the back of a home near the intersection of Page and Walton in north St. Louis. Two police officers chased the suspects running from the home. The suspects then started shooting at police. Officers returned fire hitting one of the suspects. He continued running until he collapsed. The other suspect got away.”
Scene of officer involved shooting in STL. Apparent relative of man killed by police sits in street. pic.twitter.com/eFDbXATxek
— Jesse Bogan (@JesseBogan) August 19, 2015
Scene of fatal shooting in STL. pic.twitter.com/DbFvbLzJCX
— Jesse Bogan (@JesseBogan) August 19, 2015
Kajieme Powell protesters descended on the scene, and the crowd grew quickly.
Crowd pic.twitter.com/T4Ds93fgBG
— Jesse Bogan (@JesseBogan) August 19, 2015
Exactly one year ago, Dotson told reporters that Powell was shot because he brandished a knife at officers and came within three or four feet of the officers. The next day, police released cell phone footage showing officers shooting Powell 12 times within 23 seconds of pulling up to him, from a farther distance than originally estimated.
The video of Powell’s death quickly went viral, perhaps because it was just a few days and a few miles away from the location where Officer Darren Wilson shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson. On the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death a few weeks ago, Ferguson police further inflamed protests by shooting another teenager, Tyrone Harris. Police say Harris shot at their unmarked car, and the 18-year-old has been charged with assault.