Antonio Martin shooting (Photo : Reuters)
Black teenager Antonio Martin was fatally shot by a white cop on the evening of Dec. 23, Tuesday, just a few miles from the St. Louis suburb of Berkeley where Michael Brown was also shot and killed by a police officer on Aug. 9.
Martin's death caused intense confrontations between the police and protesters a day before Christmas.
The shooting is being investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department officials, who reported that Martin pointed a gun at the white police officer who shot him outside a gas station in Berkeley. Also, an independent prosecutor is investigating the case.
Police have defended themselves claiming that Martin made "bad choices." They even released video footage to support their claim that the white officer who shot the black teenager was acting in self-defense.
At the time, the video camera installed in the patrol car was not working and the police officer involved in the shooting was not wearing a personal camera but they are trying to obtain additional footage, police reported.
In the footage police presented, somebody appeared to be raising what looked like a gun and stops before Martin was shot.
This is also supported by Berkeley mayor Theodore Hoskins, who said Martin's death was "not like Ferguson," AlterNet reported.
"We're different than Ferguson," Hoskins said pointing out that Berkeley has a black police chief and a black mayor while Ferguson was a predominantly black town with a white police chief and a white mayor, the New York Times reported.
While Hoskins understood the fury that stirred Berkeley's black residents due to another incident involving "a white policeman killing a black man."
