A domestic violence dispute just five miles aways from Ferguson, Mo. ended in a tense stand-off, as police shot and killed a man waving a gun.
According to MSNBC, the man – who was black – was harassing a woman in the town of Jennings, Mo. Wednesday night. After the woman called the police multiple times, two white officers arrived on the scene.
The 42-year-old crashed his car into two police cars and took off. After hiding behind some construction equipment, the man pointed a gun at the officers. The man’s weapon jammed, but police fired off 25 shots, killing him instantly.
St. Louis County police say officers shot the suspect on Wednesday night in Jennings, a neighbor of Ferguson, after the man aimed a loaded rifle at them.
Just before 10:45 pm Schellman said that officers were en route to the woman’s home and that as they pulled up they saw a black car slowly approaching them. As they got out of their cars to approach the vehicle, which matched the description of the car the suspect was driving, the officers saw the man brandish a large rifle. The car then accelerated, crashing into two police cars and sending the officers jumping for cover.
The man then jumped out of the car and ran behind a row of townhouses, taking cover behind a piece of parked construction equipment. As officers gave chase, Schellman said the man aimed his rifle at officers. Officers then opened fire on the man, killing him.
Jennings is the same town where police were disbanded three years ago after accusations of racism, corruption, and abuse. Officer Darren Wilson, the cop involved in the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, previously worked in Jennings.
Jennings City Councilwoman Yolonda Fountain-Henderson talked to reporters on Thursday, saying any police shootings have to be analyzed rigorously since Brown’s death.
“With this Michael Brown situation, if anyone is killed by an officer it’s like, everyone’s head is up in the air like wait a minute, what going on, is this killing justifiable,” Fountain-Henderson told MSNBC on Thursday.
She also insists that this case is nothing like Brown’s. While Brown was unarmed and allegedly held his hands in the air, this man was still holding onto the gun when he was fatally shot.
“This man was armed and they saw it. When they killed him his hand was still wrapped around the gun,” she said. “They said they had to pry it out of his hand.”
Fountain-Henderson said she’s heard from law enforcement officials that the armed man was in the apartment complex looking for an ex-girlfriend who used to live there.
“It was witnessed by a lot of people,” she said. “That officer could have been killed right there.”
The two St. Louis County police officers have been placed on administrative leave following the shooting.
SOURCE: MSNBC | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
