Some ppl say he is 17 or 18. Witnesses said he was shot 16 times. His aunt said all he had was a sandwich.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/police-officer-fatally-shoots-pedestrian-who-fired-at-him-in/article_2d5a8c2a-97db-5cec-a477-1130d7d26f7e.html

Police officer fatally shoots pedestrian who fired at him in south St. Louis

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1 hour ago • FROM STAFF REPORTS29
ST. LOUIS • An off-duty city officer fatally shot a man who opened fire on him Wednesday night, police said.

Police said the uniformed officer was working a secondary job for a private security company when he encountered four pedestrians in the Shaw neighborhood and stopped to talk with them at about 7:30 p.m.

The four fled and the officer chased one, a man believed to be in his 20s, Assistant Chief Alfred Atkins said.

The man the officer was chasing jumped from some bushes and struggled with the officer, Atkins said. The man then pulled a gun and fired at the officer, Atkins said. The officer returned fire and fatally shot the man.

The officer was not injured and a gun was recovered from the scene, police said.

The officer, 32, is a six-year veteran of the police department, Atkins said.

The scene is just east of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

A crowd of dozens of people — including several who said they were relatives of the man who was shot — gathered at the scene. Some shouted at police, and some were in tears.

They said other family members who witnessed the shooting told them their relative was unarmed.

Teyonna Myers, 23, of Florissant, said the victim was her cousin, Vonderrick Myers, 18. He had a new job at a factory in Bridgeton.

“He was unarmed,” Teyonna Myers said. “He had a sandwich in his hand, and they thought it was a gun. It’s like Michael Brown all over again.”

Some of the relatives said Myers had been hit with a Taser before he was shot.

Several neighbors also gathered at the scene. Some said they were surprised by the shooting.

“This is not normal,” Dorenda Townsend, 42, who lives in the Shaw neighborhood. “I’ve lived here over 20 years.”

Some also expressed concern that the shooting involved police.

“I pray this is not another Mike Brown situation,” said Sharon Norman, 50, referring to a shooting in August in Ferguson in which a police officer fatally shot a teenager, which has prompted many protests.