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Gillerman and Schremp report: "Another police-involved fatal shooting of a teenager, this time in south St. Louis not far from the Missouri Botanical Garden, led to hours of protests overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning."

Crowds confront police near the scene in south St. Louis where a teen was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer on Wednesday. (photo: David Carson/St Louis Post Dispatch)
Crowds confront police near the scene in south St. Louis where a teen was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer on Wednesday. (photo: David Carson/St Louis Post Dispatch)


Off-Duty St. Louis Cop Shoots 18-Year-Old 17 Times

By Margaret Gillerman and Valerie Schremp, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

09 October 14

 

nother police-involved fatal shooting of a teenager, this time in south St. Louis not far from the Missouri Botanical Garden, led to hours of protests overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning as an angry crowd gathered quickly when news spread across social media.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said the officer was off-duty, working a secondary job for a private security company, when he fatally shot an 18-year-old male Wednesday night.

Police say the teen had opened fire on the officer. The officer was unhurt.

Relatives of the dead teen who came to the scene identified him as Vonderrit Myers Jr., 18. They disputed the police version. They say he didn't have a weapon.

Teyonna Myers, 23, of Florissant, said Myers was her cousin.

“He was unarmed,” Teyonna Myers said. “He had a sandwich in his hand, and they thought it was a gun. It’s like Michael Brown all over again.”

Dotson, who came to the scene and gave an update to reporters after midnight, said the officer had been in a car when he saw three males in the 4100 block of Shaw Boulevard at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. One of the males started to run away but stopped. The officer did a U-turn and then all three ran. The officer drove through streets following them, and then he got out and chased them on foot.

Assistant Police Chief Alfred Adkins said the teen the officer was chasing jumped from some bushes and struggled with the officer.

Dotson said a physical confrontation escalated into gunfire.

The teenager had a gun and fired at least three shots at the officer, who returned fire, the chief said. The teenager attempted to fire more but his gun jammed, Dotson said.

The officer fired 17 times, he said. It is unclear how many times the teenager was struck.

Police said they recovered a 9mm Ruger.

Dotson did not identify the 18-year-old but said he "was no stranger to law enforcement."

Myers was scheduled to stand trial in November for unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest. According to court documents, the incident happened June 27 in St. Louis. In early July, Myers was released on bail after posting $1,000 cash bond. His bail originally was set at $30,000 but was dropped to $10,000 after Judge Theresa Counts Burke agreed it was excessive. She allowed Myers to post 10 percent of that in cash. As a condition of bail, Myers was supposed to be under house arrest and wear an electronic ankle monitor. Myers' trial was set for Nov. 17.

A private monitoring firm, Eastern Missouri Alternative Sentencing Services, Inc., was supposed to monitor Myers' movements and contact the court if he violated the rules. Nothing in the court file indicate any violations.

The chief said he is unaware of any video that captured Wednesday night's shooting. Police did not identify the officer but said he is 32 years old and a six-year veteran of the police department.

Word of the officer-involved shooting quickly spread across social media, and crowds of angry people began showing up and flooded the streets.

The crowd numbered about 300 at its peak. Random gunshots fired by someone near Shaw caused many to scatter. At least two rounds of gunshots were heard near the scene.

Several police cars were damaged. A crowd surrounded a police SUV and someone kicked and broke a taillight. Someone in the angry crowd broke out a rear window of a police SUV as it drove away.

Police closed Grand between Russell and Interstate 44 before midnight. A tactical team showed up to order people out of the street. Some protesters were sitting in the road. Others marched north on Grand. They shouted, "Black lives matter."

The crowd included several who said they were Myers’ relatives. Some shouted at police, and some were in tears.

By about 4 a.m., Grand was reopened to traffic in both directions and most of the protesters had left. About 40 people stood on the corner at Shaw as thunder rumbled in the distance.

Jackie Williams, 47, said Myers was his nephew and lived with him in the 4200 block of Castleman Avenue, near the shooting scene. He said he had talked to several people who had been with his nephew or saw the shooting.

“My nephew was coming out of a store from purchasing a sandwich. Security was supposedly searching for someone else. They Tased him,” Williams said. “I don’t know how this happened, but they went off and shot him 16 times. That’s outright murder.”

A police spokeswoman said the officer did not have a Taser.

Williams said Myers worked at a warehouse and attended high school.

Lavell Boyd, 47, lives in the neighborhood and said he happened upon the scene as he was going to a store on Shaw to pick up a sandwich. Boyd said he heard 14 or 15 shots as he was in his car.

“When I pulled up I saw the cop standing over him (Myers) then he pointed the gun at everyone else telling everyone to get back while he was searching for another clip,” Boyd said.

Boyd said he heard others nearby telling the officer “you killed my friend.”

Several neighbors also gathered at the scene. Some said they were surprised by the shooting.

“This is not normal,” said Dorenda Townsend, 42, who lives in the Shaw neighborhood. “I’ve lived here over 20 years.”

Some also expressed concern that the shooting involved police.

“I pray this is not another Mike Brown situation,” said Sharon Norman, 50, referring to a shooting in August in Ferguson in which a police officer fatally shot a teenager, which has prompted many protests.

Dotson said there had been no arrests of those involved in the protests that followed.

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