Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced Friday morning that the officer who fatally shot unarmed 18 year old Michael Brown is Darren Wilson.
At a news conference in Ferguson Missouri Jackson said Wilson has been a Ferguson police officer for six years. He has had no disciplinary action taken against him prior to the incident and has been treated for injuries following the altercation Jackson said.
Continue ReadingThe police chief said that Wilson was originally investigating a sick call before noon on Saturday and then responded to a reported robbery at a nearby Ferguson convenience store of which Brown allegedly was a suspect.
After his announcement Jackson did not take questions or specify Wilson s age.
Jackson did release several police reports and documents regarding the robbery and shooting of Brown The Associated Press reported.
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The reports according to the AP said Brown and his friend were believed to be two individuals who were suspected of taking a box of cigars from a Ferguson store earlier Saturday prior to Brown s death. Wilson was sent to investigate the robbery before encountering Brown shortly after.
The officer who shot and killed Brown did not know that Brown was a suspect in the robbery at the time Jackson said at a later press conference on Friday.
Before Jackson appeared at the press conference he said the officer was devastated by the shooting incident according to a CNN report.
This is his community. He never wanted any of this to happen the police chief said according to the report.
The announcement comes after nearly a weeklong wait for the release of the officer s name. The department said that the delay was intended to protect the officer s safety but the slow response angered many members of the Ferguson community.
After the announcement John Gaskin a member of the St. Louis County NAACP said the release of the officer s name was a small step toward justice for Brown and his family.
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It s a small step but it s definitely a step in the direction of justice he said on MSNBC. The Ferguson Police Department owed the family this information. They owed the people of this community this information. To know who this man is on the ground so now the NAACP can do our due diligence and begin speaking with the police department on who this officer was. I know they say his record was fairly clean but we d like to speak with some of the people here on the ground to find out what their reaction is and had they had any run ins with this officer.
Gaskin added that he was nervous about the possibility that Brown may have been the subject of racial profiling given Jackson s reference to the convenience store robbery in his press conference.
Earlier Friday morning Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said he was glad about the anticipated move by law enforcement officials.
I think it s great news today that after a great deal of prodding that they re going to be releasing the name of the officer Nixon told MSNBC s Morning Joe .
Kendall Breitman and Lucy McCalmont contributed to this report.
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