With the eyes of the world on Missouri, another Black man was killed by police officers Tuesday afternoon, this time in North St. Louis, after he allegedly charged at officers with a knife and yelled, “Shoot me. Kill me now.”
The incident took place about 10 miles from Ferguson, where angry protests are still roiling over the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson held a news conference Tuesday and described the circumstances that led to the shooting.
Dotson said the unidentified suspect, a 23-year-old African-American man, had “taken energy drinks and a package of pastries from a nearby convenience store,” was “acting erratically” and “did not drop the weapon” per police instruction.
He said the man approached both officers and was wielding the knife in an “overhead grip.” Dotson quoted witnesses as saying the man yelled, “Shoot me. Kill me now.” The man was killed with shots from both officers when he got within 4 feet of them.
