VIDEO: Teenager Michael Brown Had Violent Confrontation with Police Officer Before Shooting — #Ferguson

At the New York Times, "Missouri Teenager and Officer Scuffled Before Shooting, Chief Says":

FERGUSON, Mo. — The police chief here on Wednesday offered some details of the shooting death of an 18-year-old African-American man by one of his officers.

The police chief, Thomas Jackson, said that minutes before the shooting on Saturday, the officer and the young man, Michael Brown, had engaged in a violent confrontation, in which the officer was hit in the face.

“The side of his face is swollen,” Chief Jackson said at a news conference, adding that the officer, who has been put on administrative leave, was treated at a hospital.

Chief Jackson has not released the name of the officer, citing fears for his safety and that of his family. The police say Mr. Brown was shot after he assaulted the officer and tried to take his gun — an account disputed by a witness, a friend of Mr. Brown’s who said his hands were raised when the last of several shots were fired.

The F.B.I. has opened a civil rights inquiry into the shooting, and the case is being investigated by the St. Louis County Police.

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