In the welter of conflicting news reports emanating from Ferguson, Mo., since the Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson, CNN this week aired a radio interview with a woman claiming to be a close friend of Mr. Wilson. "Josie," as she identified herself to St. Louis radio station KFTK, relayed an account of the altercation in which Mr. Brown "bum-rushed" Mr. Wilson.

"All of a sudden, he just started to bum-rush him," she said. "He just started coming at...