Yamiche Alcindor, Greg Toppo, Gary Strauss and John Bacon

USA TODAY



FERGUSON, Mo. -- A white police officer will not face charges for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager in a case that set off violent protests and racial unrest throughout the nation.

A St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict officer Darren Wilson, 28, for firing six shots in an August confrontation that killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch said Monday night.

Crowds of protesters filled streets near the Ferguson police station following the announcement. A police car and stores were set on fire, other stores were looted, gunfire was heard and bricks were hurled. Police said they had been fired on and responded with smoke bombs and pepper spray before using tear gas.

Police later said they came under heavy automatic weapon fire, and some buildings were left to burn because of the danger. County police said an officer suffered a gunshot wound, but it was unclear if it was because of the protest violence.

Protests sprang up in cities from New York to Los Angeles and remained mostly peaceful. At least half a dozen commercial airline flights into St. Louis were diverted out of concerns about the unrest.

The Federal Aviation Administration at 11:15 p.m. ET said it had restricted flights into and out of Lambert International Airport in St. Louis to "provide a safe environment for law enforcement activities." The restriction lifts at 5:15 a.m. ET.



The grand jury's decision had been long awaited and followed earlier Ferguson rioting that resembled war-zone news footage in this predominantly black suburb of St. Louis.

In Washington, President Obama appeared before TV cameras. "We need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make,'' he said in calling for peaceful protests. But Obama said the Ferguson case "speaks to broader challenges that we still face as a nation.''

Prosecutor McCulloch made the announcement in an unusual nighttime presentation in a courtroom. He spoke at length about media coverage of the case and what he called the unreliability of eyewitness accounts. He said the grand jury weighed evidence and testimony before concluding there was no probable cause to indict the officer.

"The duty of the grand jury is to separate fact from fiction,'' McCulloch said.

He said prosecuting attorneys presented five potential indictments to the grand jury, and all were rejected.

"The jury was not inclined to indict on any charges,'' Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Brown's family, said after being informed of the decision by authorities.

In grand jury testimony released by prosecutors Monday night, Wilson, the officer, described the confrontation and said that Brown refused his instructions to stop walking in the street. He said Brown cursed him, then slammed the officer's car door shut as he was trying to exit his vehicle.

He said Brown appeared to be trying "almost like to intimidate or overpower me.'' They scuffled and Brown hit the officer, Wilson testified.

"When I grabbed him, the only way I can describe it is I felt like a five-year-old holding Hulk Hogan,'' Wilson said.

He had no Taser weapon and felt his mace spray would not work, Wilson said: "So the only other option I thought I had was my gun." He drew it, he said, and told Brown to "get back or I'm going to shoot you." He said Brown grabbed the gun with his right hand and twisted it, pushing it down into Wilson's hip, before the officer fired.

Brown's family attorneys received a call from McCulloch shortly before the announcement that there would be no charges against the officer. Crump took the call and and delivered the news to Brown's family in an area hotel.

Lesley McSpadden, Brown's mother, cried and shouted when Crump told her there was no indictment and that the prosecutor was willilng to meet with the family.

McSpadden began crying and shouting. Her body vibrated with pain as she jumped to her feet.

"I do want to meet with him right now," McSpadden screamed. "What do you mean no indictment?!"

She then ran out of a hotel room followed by family members.

Brown's family later released a statement saying, "We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions.'' They urged others who share their pain to "channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change.''

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, called for calm after calling up National Guard troops to stand by in case of unrest. Speaking before the decision was announced, he urged that "regardless of the decision, people on all sides show tolerance, mutual respect and restraint.''

Crowds gathered around the Ferguson police headquarters in anticipation of the announcement at the courthouse in Clayton, Mo., another St. Louis suburb.

The 12-person grand jury had been considering whether probable cause existed to bring charges against Wilson, 28, the white officer who fatally shot Brown, an 18-year-old black man, after their Aug. 9 confrontation. The shooting inflamed tensions in a largely minority community that is patrolled by an overwhelmingly white police force.

Brown's lifeless and bleeding body lay for more than four hours in a Ferguson residential street after the shooting, prompting dismay and anger as a crowd gathered. Protests turned into rioting and looting the following night, and police responded with armored vehicles and tear gas, triggering a nationwide debate over police tactics.

The grand jury, including nine whites and three African Americans, had been meeting in secret for months, hearing evidence and weighing whether Wilson's should face charges that could have ranged from involuntary manslaughter to murder.

Brown's family joined thousands of protesters to demand Wilson's arrest in the weeks after the death of their son. As anger at official inaction grew following Brown's death, protesters clashed with police, who began patrolling the streets with military-grade weapons and armored vehicles.

Wilson has been on paid leave and largely invisible since the shooting.

While the grand jury met in secret to hear evidence in the case, two starkly different versions of the events leading to the shooting emerged in media accounts.

Police have said a scuffle broke out after Wilson asked Brown and a friend to move out of the street. Wilson told investigators he shot Brown only after the teenager reached for the officer's gun. Some witnesses said Brown had run away from Wilson, then turned and raised his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender before he was shot in the head and chest.

The unusual timing of the grand jury's announcement, after darkness had fallen, was a decision of prosecutors, Nixon said.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay acknowledged the case "has deeply divided us'' but said "turning violent or damaging property will not be tolerated.''

"The world will be watching us,'' Slay said.

The death of Brown touched off weeks of protests, and the decision by the grand jury on whether to bring charges prompted extraordinary precautions by law enforcement and the community. The Ferguson school district canceled Tuesday classes.

Wilson could still face civil rights charges brought by the Justice Department or a civil wrongful death lawsuit filed by Brown's parents.

Contributing: Brad Heath, Pete Eisler, USA TODAY; KSDK-TV, St. Louis