Mother: Son was holding sandwich when shot dead

The mother of a black 18-year-old shot dead by a white police officer says her son was only holding a sandwich in his hand when he was killed.

Police last night said they have evidence the teen was holding a gun when the officer shot 17 rounds at the suspect.

The shooting by the off-duty St Louis police officer led to an angry demonstration, with some protesters likening it to the August killing of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white officer in nearby Ferguson.

St Louis police chief colonel Sam Dotson said the 32-year-old officer, whom he didn’t identify, was patrolling the historic Shaw neighbourhood when he saw three males, and one of them ran off before stopping. During the chase, he got into a physical altercation with the one he eventually killed.

Dotson didn’t identify the person killed, but the teenager’s mother, Syreeta Myers, said it was her son, Vonderrit D Myers. She said her son wasn’t armed, as police contend.

The chief said the suspect ran up a hill, turned and opened fire on the officer, who returned fire and killed the man. Ballistic evidence shows that the teen fired three shots. He said he tried to fire again but his gun jammed, noting that the 9mm gun was recovered.

Syreeta Myers said her son was holding a sandwich when he was killed, and that he wasn’t armed and police were lying about what happened.