Monday night, a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri decided not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch also simultaneously released all evidence presented to the grand jury. Here are the most important takeaways from
the documents...
1. Officer Wilson identified Michael Brown as suspect in a robbery.
From County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch:
“At About 11:53 AM, Wilson heard a radio broadcast of stealing in progress at a market. The broadcast also included a brief description of the subject.”
“As Officer Wilson was attending to his emergency call, Michael Brown and a companion were in the local convenience store. Michael Brown’s activity in the store was recorded by the store security cameras. The video often played following its release in August by the Ferguson police department shows Michael Brown grabbing a handful of Cigarillos and heading toward the exit without paying. As Michael Brown and his companion left the store, somebody inside called the police.
"As Officer Wilson continued west, he encountered Mr. Brown and his companion walking in the middle of the street. As Wilsonslowed, he told them to move to the sidewalk. Words were exchanged and they continued to walk down the middle of the street. Wilson observed that Michael Brown had Cigarillos in his hand and was wearing a red hat and yellow socks. At approximately 12:02 PM, Wilson radioed he had two individuals and needed assistance.”
2. Michael Brown initiated the attack on Officer Wilson inside his police vehicle.
From Officer Wilson’s sworn testimony:
“He then grabs my door again and shuts my door. At that time is when I saw him coming into my vehicle. His head was higher than the top of my car. And I see him ducking and as he is ducking, his hands are up and he is coming in my vehicle.”
From Officer Wilson’s sworn testimony:
“I had shielded myself in this type of manner and kind of locked away, so I don’t remember seeing him come at me, but I was hit right in the side of the face with a fist. I don’t think it was a full-on swing, I think it was a full-on swing, but not a full shot. I think my arm deflected some of it, but there was still a significant amount of contact that was made to my face.”
From County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch:
“Several other witnesses described Mr. Brown as punching Officer Wilson while Mr. Brown was partially inside the vehicle.”
3. Michael Brown grabbed Officer Wilson’s gun.
From Officer Wilson’s sworn testimony:
“He grabs my gun, says, “You are too much of a pussy to shoot me.” The gun goes down into my hip and at that point I thought I was getting shot. I can feel his fingers try to get inside the trigger guard with my finger and I distinctly remember envisioning a bullet going into my leg. I thought that was the next step.”
From County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch:
“A total of 12 rounds were fired by Officer Wilson. Two shots in the car, 10 more farther east. Mr. Brown sustained a graze wound to his thumb while standing next to the vehicle.”
4. The gun was fired twice during the initial struggle.
From Officer Wilson’s sworn testimony:
“At this point I’m like why isn’t this working, this guy is going to kill me if he gets a hold of this gun. I pulled it a third time, it goes off. When it went off, it shot through my door panel and my window was down and glass flew out of my door panel. I think that kind of startled him and me at the same time.”
From County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch:
“Many of the witnesses said they heard a gunshot while Mr. Brown was still partially inside the vehicle.”
5. Officer Wilson feared for his life during the struggle
From Officer Wilson’s sworn testimony:
“I felt that another one of those punches in my face could knock me out or worse. I mean it was, he's obviously bigger than I was and stronger and the, I've already taken two to the face and I didn't think I would, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right.”
6. Officer Wilson repeatedly told Michael Brown to surrender
From Officer Wilson’s sworn testimony:
“At this point I start backpedaling and again, I tell him get on the ground, get on the ground, he doesn't. I shoot another round of shots. Again, I don't recall how many hit him every time. I know at least once because he flinched again.
Well, he keeps coming at me after me again, during the pause I tell him to get on the ground, get on the ground, he still keeps coming at me, gets about 8 to 10 feet away. At this point, I'm backing up pretty rapidly, I'm backpedaling pretty good because I know if he reaches me, he'll kill me.”
7. Michael Brown was charging Officer Wilson when he was fatally shot.
From Officer Wilson’s sworn testimony:
“When he does that, his left hand goes in a fist and goes to his side, his right one goes under his shirt in his waistband and he starts running at me.
At this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him.
And when he gets about that 8 to 10 feet away, I look down, I remember looking at my sites and firing, all I see is his head and that’s what I shot.”
From County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch:
“Other witnesses stated Mr. Brown stopped for a very brief period and moved toward Officer Wilson again. One described his movement as a full charge.”
