Another black teenager was shot dead in the United States on Tuesday by a police officer.
The 18-year-old, locally identified as Antonio Martin, was reported by the Guardian UK to have been shot at a gas station in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, in New York.
Martin was killed around where Michael Brown, also a teenager, was shot to death in August by another police officer.
Brown’s death provoked anger, particularly within the black community, leading to a nationwide protests and calls for police policy reviews.
However, the police alleged that that the officer who killed Martini did so out of self-defence.
A spokesman for Saint. Louis county police department said the deceased drew a handgun and pointed it at the police.
“The Berkeley police officer exited his vehicle and approached the subjects when one of the men pulled a handgun and pointed it at the officer,” the spokesman said in a statement.
“Fearing for his life, the Berkeley officer fired several shots, striking the subject, fatally wounding him.
“The second subject fled the scene … St. Louis County Police Detectives have recovered the deceased subject’s handgun at the scene.”
The police added that investigations had begun to get to the core of the incident, which occurred at a mobile petrol station around 11:15pm on Tuesday (Local time).
Martini was said to be in the company of another man at the gas station during the time of the incident.
The development would likely increase existing tension between the blacks and the police in the country.
Over the weekend, two police officers were killed in connection with Michael Brown’s death. Protests are currently ongoing at the site of the incident and at the county’s police department.
Source: Guardian UK
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