Crowds confront police near the scene in in south St. Louis where a man was fatally shot by an off-duty St. Louis police officer on Wednesday, Oct. 8.

A St. Louis Police officer shot and killed a young man Wednesday evening, city police said.

The incident that led to the shooting began about 7:30 p.m. CT when an off-duty officer noticed three men near the corner of Shaw Boulevard and Klemm Street in St. Louis. Police Chief Sam Dotson said during a news conference that the men began running when they saw the officer, who responded by chasing one of them.

The officer was working as a security guard at the time, but wearing his St. Louis police uniform, Dotson said.

The officer initially lost the man but found him again when he jumped out of a bush. Lt. Col. Alfred Adkins told the Associated Press a struggle then ensued.

"The officer approached, they got into a struggle, they ended up into a gangway, at which time the young man pulled a weapon and shots were fired," Adkins said. "The officer returned fire and unfortunately the young man was killed."

According to Dotson, the man fired at least three times. His gun then jammed, though he continued pulling the trigger. The officer fired 17 times. By early Thursday morning, investigators had recovered bullet casings from two guns, Dotson said, as well as a 9 mm Ruger believed to have belonged to the man.

"The ballistic evidence indicates at least three different rounds at the office," Dotson added.

Police did not identify the man who was shot, but family members said it was 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers, the Post-Dispatch reported.

During the news conference, Dotson said the man who was shot was "no stranger to law enforcement" and that after running his name in the police database Wednesday "something popped up very easily." Dotson did not further elaborate on what kind of history the man had with police.