http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/25/michael-brown-case/16199575/

ST. LOUIS — As the parents of Michael Brown appeared Thursday in the nation's capital to call on the Justice Department to take over the case of their 18-year-old son whom police shot in August, the chief in the St. Louis suburb where he was killed apologized to the Brown family.

Police Chief Thomas Jackson in Ferguson, Mo., issued a video apology Thursday to Brown's parents and peaceful protesters, according to a St. Louis public-relations firm's video.

"I'm truly sorry for the loss of your son. I'm also sorry that it took so long to remove Michael from the street," said Jackson, dressed casually in a red polo shirt. "You have every right to be angry and upset. The time that it took involved the completion of the work of the investigators to preserve physical evidence and determine the facts, but 4½ hours was simply too long."

Ferguson was the site of sometimes violent protests and looting in the days after Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer, shot Brown, who was black and unarmed, on Aug. 9. Witnesses said that Brown had his hands raised above his head before he was shot dead.