St. Louis County Police released a surveillance video Tuesday officials say shows Tyrone Harris Jr., the suspect shot and injured by police during Sunday’s protests in Ferguson, with a gun.
Harris, age 18, faces ten felony charges, including assault of a law enforcement officer and armed criminal action. Police say he was critically wounded by plainclothes police after shooting at an unmarked police van during a gun battle between two rival groups.
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See more: Man Shot During Ferguson Protests Fired at Officers, Police Say
Here’s the video. Police identify Harris as the man in the white shirt:
The police account of the shooting was immediately criticized, both by protesters calling for more transparency from St. Louis County Police and by Harris’ father, Tyrone Harris Sr.
Harris Sr. said his son went to school with Michael Brown, the black teen whose death sparked protests against police shootings and racial inequality. He told The Washington Post that his son was on a date at a remembrance for Brown when shooting broke out and that his son didn’t have a gun.
“My son wasn’t even armed when he was shot,” Harris tells The Washington Post.
Police released surveillance video from Solo Insurance Services, at 9197 West Florissant Avenue, on Tuesday that disputes Harris Sr.’s claim.
“The video shows Harris grab a handgun out of his waistband once shots are fired during the protest in the W. Florissant corridor seconds prior to the officer involved shooting,” says Officer Shawn McGuire, police spokesman, in a statement. Police said investigators recovered a .9mm semi-automatic firearm reported stolen from Cape Girardeau from the scene.
The Ferguson Action Council, a coalition of protest groups, released a statement Monday criticizing police for assigning plainclothes officers without body cameras to the protests in Ferguson.
“After a year of protest and conversation around police accountability, having plain clothes officers without body cameras and proper identification in the protest setting leaves us with only the officer’s account of the incident, which is clearly problematic,” the coalition said.
St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger called a state of emergency Monday after the shooting to give county police control over protest security. Stenger tells St. Louis Public Radio he’ll consider lifting the emergency order if Tuesday’s protests, like Monday’s, remain peaceful.
St. Louis County Police Department Crimes Against Persons Unit is still investigating the case.
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at [email protected] or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
