Just when you thought there wasn't any possible way that more lives could be taken by police before Christmas, another teenager from St. Louis has been gunned down.
Antonio Martin, a teenager from Berkeley, Missouri, was fatally shot by a 34-year-old White police officer with 6-years of experience at the Mobile Gas Station located at 6800 North Hanley, around 11:15pm on Tuesday night, December 23rd. The location of the shooting is actually just a few miles away from Ferguson, where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead in the street by Officer Darren Wilson.
Early on Christmas Eve, public speaker for the Berkeley Police Department, Sergeant Brian Schellman, issued a statement detailing the events that led to the shooting from the perspective of the officer who shot Martin. Apparently the officer was performing a "routine business check" when he encountered Martin, but other reports have claimed that he was responding to possible robbery suspects. The officer then claims that Martin pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him as the officer approached him. "Fearing for his life," the Berkeley officer then fired several shots at Antonio, killing him. There was another person with Martin who Sergeant Schellman claims fled the scene.
Interestingly enough, surveillance footage has surfaced from the shooting, which captured the interaction between Martin and the Berkeley police officers right before the young man was killed. You can clearly see the officer appearing to have a talk with Martin's friend while Antonio stood off to the side. The video cuts off as Martin appears to back away, then step up to the officer with his hand raised, which to many may look as though he is a holding a firearm.
St. Louis Police Cheif Jon Belmar has stated that Antonio Martin has a criminal record including three armed assaults among other charges all after he turned 17. The officer responsible for shooting Martin was wearing a body camera, but it was apparently not turned on at the time of the shooting, nor was the dash cam inside of the police vehicle.
Check out the surveillance footage above.
Source: Inquisitr/TheGuardian
