Videos taken at the scene and later posted to social media further question the police department’s narrative.
In one of the videos, a gunshot can be heard as Green screams “Don’t shoot me!” and “Don’t kill me, oh God!” His mother is also heard pleading with police, crying out, “Don’t shoot my baby!”
— Nique2X (@_prettyassnique) October 28, 2015
On Wednesday afternoon around 2 PM, police in Ferguson, Missouri, requested the assistance of the neighboring Normandy Police Department for a call they had received from his family for help, citing that he was suicidal.
Police claim that when they located Green, who was being followed by concerned relatives, he began to shoot at police officers. The department claims that they deployed a taser, but it was uneffective. Officers then returned fire.
Following the gunfire, Green attempted to flee and was seen hopping over fences using both hands, a detail that witness Deron Smith, who spoke to STL Today, says confirms that the teen was no longer carrying a weapon.
— TC (@tchop_stl) October 29, 2015
The department claims that Green then shot himself in the face, which witnesses adamantly dispute.
"While he was running, he turned around to face the police and that's when he got shot in the face. I saw his body drop. They shot him in the face, his whole right side of his face was gone, his top lip was gone,” witness Dominique Clemons told the Huffington Post.
Many of the tense moments during and following the encounter were captured on video by witnesses and uploaded to social media, including several statements from witnesses who state that Green was killed by police.
— The Source Magazine (@TheSource) October 29, 2015
— The Source Magazine (@TheSource) October 29, 2015
"I apologize for cussin', but that's the only damn son I got," Green’s father stated in a video post to Instagram. "When he started running, Ferguson [police] started shooting."
The Normandy Police Department has stated that while Ferguson police officers were on the scene, it was a Normandy officer who fired his weapon at Green.
It is unsurprising that the community is distrustful of the official story.
In March, Ferguson was accused by the Justice Department of “illegal and discriminatory enforcement actions that particularly exploited African-Americans,” following last year’s shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown.
There have been hundreds of protests against the Ferguson Police Department across the globe, including several massive uprisings in the city that shined a bright light on police militarization and brutality.
— Search4Swag (@search4swag) October 29, 2015
