St. Louis police said a 19-year-old black man was fatally shot Wednesday night after he pointed a gun at two officers.
Chief Sam Dotson said officers spotted a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo that had been reported stolen last month around 9:45 p.m. and followed the car until it struck a retaining wall, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The two officers then approached the car. Dotson said the man in the passenger seat got out of the vehicle holding a gun with a magazine capacity of up to 30 rounds, according to the newspaper.
The officers asked the suspect to drop his weapon and opened fire when he refused, Dotson said. The Post-Dispatch reported that the man was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.
Both the suspect, 19, and the stolen car’s driver, also 19, were black, according to the newspaper. Dotson said the driver cooperated with officers and was taken into custody.
The suspect’s name has not been released.
A new unit created to review officers’ use of force was investigating the shooting, according to local TV station KSDK. The Post-Dispatch reported that one of the officers involved in the shooting is black while the other is white.
