Police chief names officer who shot and killed unarmed black teenager

St Louis police yesterday identified the officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager and released documents alleging the young man had been suspected of stealing a $48.99 box of cigars from a shop in a "strong-arm" robbery shortly before he was killed.

Police Chief Thomas Jackson said the officer did not know the teen was a robbery suspect at the time of the shooting in the town of Ferguson and stopped Michael Brown and a companion “because they were walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic”.

Darren Wilson, 28, has been an officer in suburban St Louis for six years and had no complaints filed against him, Jackson said.

Brown’s relatives immediately questioned whether the officer really believed Brown was a suspect and said no robbery would justify shooting the teen after he put his hands up.

The family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, said Brown’s parents were blindsided by the allegations. “It’s bad enough they assassinated him, and now they’re trying to assassinate his character,” Crump said.

An attorney for the teen who was with Brown on the day of the shooting said his client has acknowledged to investigators that Brown took cigars from the store.

The police chief described Wilson as “a gentle, quiet man” who had been “an excellent officer”.

Wilson, who was placed on administrative leave after the August 9 shooting, “never intended for any of this to happen”, Jackson said.

Police “are choosing to disseminate information that is very strategic to try to help them justify the execution-style” killing, said Crump, who also represented the family of Trayvon Martin, the teenager fatally shot by a Florida neighbourhood watch organiser who was later acquitted of murder.

Brown’s death ignited four days of clashes with furious protesters. The tension eased on Thursday after the governor turned oversight of the protests over to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

But yesterday’s announcement by the police chief was met with disbelief and anger by dozens of residents, and protest marches began.