18-Year Old Black Teenager Shot Dead By Police In St Louis

A black teenager has been shot dead by police in the U.S city of St Louis, near where Michael Brown was killed in August triggering national protests. St Louis County police said the man who was shot had pulled a gun at a petrol station and pointed it at an officer. A crowd of protesters was at the scene in Berkeley, Missouri, which has been sealed off by police. Berkeley is about two miles from the suburb of Ferguson, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead.

The victim of the Berkeley shooting was named as Antonio Martin, 18, by local media citing his mother.

Police spokesman Sgt Brian Schellman said in a statement that an officer had been conducting a routine check at a petrol station on Tuesday evening when he saw two men and approached them, and one of the men pointed a handgun at the officer, who then fired several shots. The second man fled, Sgt Schellman said, adding that the handgun had been recovered.

Michael Brown, who was unarmed, was killed by a white police officer who said he opened fire after a struggle in a patrol car. His death sparked protests, sometimes violent, and further unrest followed a grand jury's decision not to charge the officer.

There were further demonstrations after the death of Eric Garner, 43, a black man who died while being held down by a white police officer in July in New York. Again, a grand jury decided against charging the officer.

Source: BBC