Antonio Martin
Antonio Martin (died December 23, 2014) was an 18-year-old black man who was killed after pulling a gun on a police officer and trying to shoot him. Due to the recent police shooting of Michael Brown, the shooting of Martin spiked protests in St. Louis county where the shooting took place.
Incident edit
At 11:11 p.m. on December 23, 2014, an unidentified police officer was dispatched to an On the Run convenience store after a report of Martin and another person shoplifting from the store. At 11:15 he arrived at the store and saw Martin and the other suspect in the street. The police officer was not wearing a body camera and the car's dashcam was not recording, but the store's CCTV camera recorded the exchange and there were also at least two witnesses.
After being confronted by the officer, Martin pulled out a gun and pointed it at him. The officer ran away and fell to the ground, firing three shots at his assailant. One missed, one hit the officer's car and one shot Martin. Paramedics arrived six minutes later and pronounced him dead. An angry crowd gathered around the area and began throwing things at the police. One person was arrested on arson charges and four others for assault. Martin's body was removed from the crime scene at around 1:40 a.m.
Police recovered Martin's gun from the scene; it contained six bullets and had not been fired. While both parties were armed and the security cameras did not record the whole thing, several people who were nearby told police that Martin had been first to draw his weapon.
The unidentified person who was with Martin was named as a person of interest but was never found. The two bystanders called as witnesses were unable to tell police who he was, but did inform police that Martin had been the first to attack.