A private autopsy found Sunday that the unarmed black teenager killed by a white Ferguson, Mo. police officer was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, according to the New York Times.
Dr. Michael M. Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner who conducted the autopsy at the request of 18-year-old Michael Brown’s family, told the newspaper one bullet that entered the top of Brown’s skill indicated his head was bent downward when he was shot. “It can be because he’s giving up, or because he’s charging forward at the officer,” Baden explained.
Baden told the Times that all the bullets were fired into Brown’s front and some entered and exited several times, producing numerous wounds. But Baden said no gunpowder was present on Brown’s body, suggesting the bullets were not shot from close range. He cautioned that he didn’t have access to Brown’s clothing, which could change that assessment.
Attorney General Eric Holder asked Sunday for the Justice Department to arrange a third autopsy on Brown’s body, citing the “extraordinary circumstances” involved in the case. He said the Justice Department will take the state of Missouri’s autopsy into account in its own investigation.
