The police union press conference was sparked, in part, by the protests and “silly” claims that followed Myers’ death, Roorda said. Roorda said that after the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, “Protesters demanded immediate answers and demanded officers not shoot unarmed suspects. Everything they asked for in Ferguson they got in Shaw, and it still wasn’t enough.”

The officer’s name has not been released. His attorney, Brian Millikan, said the officer saw Myers running with his right hand holding the right side at his waistband, as if he could be keeping a gun in place.

Millikan said that was the same spot where the officer later saw Myers draw a gun. He said that the officer had an “obligation to act” after spotting the fleeing men.

The officer believes Myers fired five to seven times, Millikan said, and believes he would have been dead had the gun not jammed. Millikan said that one live round remained in Myers’ gun.

After Myers’ death, several photographs showing him holding three guns, including one that looked like the stolen Smith & Wesson pistol recovered at the scene, circulated on social media. Millikan said that his client recognized both Myers and the distinctive, two-tone semiautomatic in the pictures.