Teenager Shot in Ferguson, Cops and Witnesses Offer Differing Accounts
NORMANDY, Missouri -- Authorities say an 18-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to his face in a St. Louis suburb after firing at officers Wednesday afternoon.
It’s unclear how the man sustained the injury. The Normandy Police Department said in a statement that “it appears at this time that the male was not struck by law enforcement gunfire." However, people claiming to have witnessed the incident said otherwise.
The victim has been identified as Amonderez Green via public records and reporting by The Huffington Post and its partner, the St. Louis American.
The department said that after police were called in to help find a "suicidal subject" whose family was attempting to calm him down, the man fired at the officers. When officers attempted to speak to the man, he allegedly removed a gun from his waistband and began firing at them. After deploying a Taser, which had no effect, the officers returned fire, the department said.
The man fled, and another gunshot was heard out of the officers' sight, according to the statement. The officers then reportedly found him on the ground, unresponsive.
A woman who says she witnessed the shooting, but asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about safety and the potential repercussions of speaking publicly, told HuffPost that she saw two officers on the scene with the teenager.
Looking out her window, the witness said she saw the man -- who was wearing a red, orange and yellow jacket -- turn to face the officers, who were just six or seven feet away from him, when one of the cops shot him in the face.
"We heard approximately six gunshots ring out. I yelled and told my daughter to get down," she said.
"He was right at eye level as [the officer] shot him," the witness continued. "It was not a suicide. At all."
Via Huffington Post
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