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St Louis police kill another black teenager

PROTESTS continued to flare in St Louis on Thursday night after the US was rocked by yet another fatal police shooting of a black teenager.

Police claimed the white officer who shot 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers was returning fire, but his family say he was unarmed.

The officer was off-duty and working as a private security guard.

Mr Myers’s shooting came just two months after the police killing of unarmed black teen Michael Brown sparked days of often violent protests in St Louis suburb Ferguson.

Four days of rallies, marches and civil disobedience over the Brown death, which kicked off yesterday, were given an added impetus by the latest shooting.

After a quiet candlelit vigil on Thursday night, hundreds joined a more rowdy gathering on the high street.

Some protesters burned the US flag, while others banged drums and shouted as riot police looked on.

Police used pepper spray, forcing the protesters away from the retail area.

St Louis police chief Sam Dotson said the officer spotted Mr Myers and two other men at around 7.30pm on Wednesday while patrolling on his security job wearing his police uniform.

The officer became suspicious when one of them started to run, Mr Dotson said.

During the chase, he got into a physical altercation with Mr Myers, who ran up a hill. Police said ballistic evidence showed the teen had fired three shots before his stolen gun had jammed.

The unharmed officer then unleashed 17 rounds, with a shot to the head, killing Mr Myers.

But Syreeta Myers said her son was holding a sandwich not a gun.

“Police lie. They lied about Michael Brown, too,” she said.

Meanwhile, protesters in Ohio were occupying Beavercreek police station demanding justice for John Crawford, a 22-year-old shot dead by police in August while browsing in Wal Mart.

Ohio Students Association launched a sit-in on Monday, calling on police chief Dennis Evers to sack Sean Williams, the officer who killed him.

The group decided to occupy the steps outside the station after meeting Mr Evers on Wednesday and accused him of “choosing not to take a stand on the freedom side.”

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