A pathologist and lawyers for Michael Brown's family said today the results of a private autopsy on the remains of the 18-year-old from Ferguson, Mo., confirm he was shot at least six times, including one fatal shot to the head.
"It verifies that the witness accounts were true, that he was shot multiple tim
es," said Michael Crump, a civil rights lawyer representing the family.
His co-counsel, Daryl Parks, said there is "ample evidence" for the police officer involved to be arrested. Parks alleged the back-to-front direction of bullets suggest Brown was trying to surrender.
Tensions
remain high in Ferguson, Missouri after police fired tear gas during a
sixth straight night early Sunday (Aug. 16, 2014) of protests against
the fatal shooting by police of Michael Brown, a black, unarmed
teenager.
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All were speaking at a televised news conference in St. Louis Monday morning.
Baden said there was no sign of a struggle with police.
Back to the shooter?
Forensic pathologist Shawn Parcells, who assisted Baden during the autopsy, said a bullet graze wound on Brown's right arm could have occurred in several ways.The teenager may have had his back to the shooter, he said, or he could have been facing the shooter with his hands above his head or in a defensive position.
"We don't know," he said. "We still have to look at the other (elements) of this investigation before we start piecing things together."
Witnesses have said Brown had his hands raised above his head when he was repeatedly shot in a street in Ferguson, where the death has heightened racial tensions between the predominantly black community and the mostly white police department.
Baden was retained by the Brown family to perform a second autopsy, in addition to the one performed by a medical examiner. It was done at a funeral home, once the body had been delivered to the family, and took about three to four hours, he said.
Results only preliminary
A federal autopsy was ordered Sunday by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. He was scheduled to brief President Barack Obama on Monday afternoon on the situation in Ferguson.Crump stressed that the results are only preliminary and that much more forensic information must be gathered.
"The Brown family wanted their own autopsy, because they did not want to be left having to rely on the St. Louis law enforcement agencies to do the only autopsy, the same individuals they feel executed their son in broad daylight," he said.
Baden has testified in several high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
Brown's death heightened racial tensions between the predominantly black community and the mostly white Ferguson Police Department, leading to several run-ins between police and protesters.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon called in the National Guard early Monday and put the Missouri Highway Patrol in charge of security.
