St. Louis police chief defends fatal shooting by officers

ST. LOUIS -- The police chief on Thursday unapologetically defended the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old who was killed by two white officers in a confrontation that drew protesters and unrest back to the streets.

Protesters pledged to stand firm. Said the director of a group called the Organization for Black Struggle: "We will not go away."

Mansur Ball-Bey, who police said had a handgun, was shot as officers raided a home in north St. Louis.

Within an hour of Wednesday's shooting, more than 100 people converged on the scene, taunting officers and decrying the use of deadly force.

A vacant building and at least one car were torched, police said. Officers responded with tear gas and arrested at least nine people on charges of impeding traffic and resisting arrest.

The scene unfolded less than two weeks after violence marred the anniversary of the day Michael Brown was fatally wounded by a white officer in nearby Ferguson. His death launched the national Black Lives Matter movement.

St. Louis police chief Sam Dotson said the crowd-control tactics were justified because officers were being hit with bottles and bricks, and protesters refused to clear out of the roadway.

"I'd certainly much rather our officers focused in the neighborhoods, interceding violence before it happens," Dotson said Thursday, noting some in the neighborhood implored police to leave them alone. "It's kind of ironic that we're in that neighborhood where police services are most needed, and people are telling us not to do our jobs."

Activists vowed to continue their efforts.

"We have a right to live in freedom and specifically free from fear," said Montague Simmons, executive director of the Organization for Black Struggle. "This can't go unchecked. We're going to stay in the street. No matter what (police) put forward, we are not going to stop."

The latest shooting happened while officers were serving a search warrant. They encountered Ball-Bey and another suspect running from the home, police said.

Ball-Bey turned and pointed a handgun at the officers, who shot him, authorities said. He died at the scene.

The handgun found in the dead man's possession had one round in the chamber and 13 in the magazine, Dotson said.

Some protesters questioned the police claim the suspect was armed. Distrust of police accounts has been common since Brown's death.

On the night of the Brown anniversary, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr. was wounded by plainclothes officers in Ferguson after he allegedly fired at them first. His father called that account "a bunch of lies" and insisted his son was unarmed.