(Newswire.net — August 12, 2015) — St. Louis, Missouri – New surveillance footage released by the St. Louis Couty Police Department, proves the officers claim that 18-year-old Tyrone Harris was indeed armed with a handgun, which backs the statement of the police officers who shot him, ABC News reported.
Four police officers shot and critically wounded a black teen, which sparked an escalation of violence on the Ferguson streets, leading to a state of emergency and the arrest of more than 150 people.
The 13-second video came from a surveillance camera owned by Solo Insurance Services. The video opens with people casually walking past a row of shops and parked cars. Suddenly, a group of about 10 people started running in a commotion, hiding behind cars.
At that moment, the surveillance video showed that one young black man, wearing jeans and white t-shirt, stand out, pulls what appears to be a pistol from his waistband with his left hand, holding it out in front of him before moving off camera. The video does not explicitly show the man discharging his weapon.
The St. Louis County police department identified the person in the video as Tyrone Harris, who allegedly was responding to shots fired by another group at the scene, before undercover officers shot him. The incident took place during a commemoration protest marking the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death.
According to police, Harris opened fire on an unmarked police vehicle from which undercover cops were watching the rally. When exchange fire happened, all four got out of the car and started chasing Harris. They all opened fire and wounded Harris who is in the hospital in critical condition.
According to his father, Tyrone Sr. Harris was shot 8-12 times. Harris’s father also disputed the police claim saying his son “haven’t got a gun”. However, a newly released video support the police’s claim.
According to the documents, Harris was on parole, awaiting trial as he had been charged with with 10 felonies – five counts of armed criminal action, four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and a firearms charge.
He is being held in lieu of a $250,000 cash-only bond.