There’s Very Little in the Michael Brown Shooting Incident Report

Nearly two weeks after Michael Brown’s death, the police report on the shooting has finally been made public. But the glaring lack of detail is likely to increase widespread criticism that the law-enforcement community is closing ranks around Darren Wilson, the officer who fatally shot Brown on Aug. 9.
The incident report, filed by the St. Louis County police department, contains no new information on the encounter between Brown and Wilson. There are no written details about the event. As a result, the officer’s account of what transpired when the two men met just after noon on Aug. 9 remains a mystery.
Wilson never filed a report on the incident, according to the office of the St. Louis County prosecutor. The case was quickly turned over the county at the request of local police.
According to the document, the St. Louis County police entered the incident report on Aug. 19, 10 days after the shooting. It was approved for release the following morning.
(Read More: TIME’s cover story Inside the Tragedy of Ferguson)
The report was made public after the ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit demanding the public documents, as pursuant to Missouri’s Sunshine Law. Why it took so long for the department to comply, considering the lack of information contained in the documented, is unclear. Neither the St. Louis County police nor the Ferguson Police department responded to a request for comment. The ACLU could not immediately be reached for comment.
The report classifies the potential offense as a “homicide.” Read the full report below.