In the latest incident to fuel tension between US police and the black community, a teenager has been shot dead by a white officer in a suburb of St Louis, ground zero of a new protest movement.
St Louis county police chief Jon Belmar said an 18-year-old suspect levelled a gun at an officer responding to a theft complaint at a petrol station, leaving him with no alternative but to shoot.
Belmar offered his condolences to the family of the deceased, saying regardless of how the fatal shooting happened it is a tragedy.
"First and foremost I would like to offer my condolences. These are nothing but tragedies. This is a family right now that, regardless of the decision this individual made, are without a family member this Christmas season. This is also tragedy for the police officer.
"You know, he will carry the weight of this for the rest of his life. Certainly the rest of his career so there are no winners here, nothing but losers."
Teenager pointed pistol at police officer: Police
Tuesday's death in Berkeley - a St Louis suburb immediately bordering Ferguson, in recent months the scene of a more controversial police shooting and subsequent riots - triggered immediate protests.
Belmar said two men approached the officer's car as it approached the petrol station. One suspect pointed his nine-millimetre pistol at the officer, who drew his own weapon and fired three shots.
"The individual produced a pistol with his arms straight out pointing at the officer across the hood of the police car at that point the policed officer produced his service weapon and fired," he said.
St Louis have released video of the incident.
Police are hunting for the second man who fled the scene.
St Louis police released surveillance footage from the petrol station, but said the officer - a 34-year-old white man with six years experience on the force - was not wearing his body camera.
The suspect was named in US media reports as 18-year-old Antonio Martin. Police did not confirm this, but said the suspect was known to police for assault and robbery charges.
A 300-strong crowd gathered after the shooting, with demonstrators lobbing bricks and three explosive devices, which officials said were likely fireworks. Police responded with pepper spray.
A small group was seen looting a shop close to the scene of the shooting. At least one officer was injured and is in hospital after the clashes.
'Suspect made bad choices'
Belmar said "bad choices" were made by the suspect, and defended the officer's decision to shoot.
"This individual could have complied with the officer, he could have ran away, he could have dropped the gun ... it didn't have to end with him approaching the officer with an arm extended and a nine-millimetre pistol in his hand," he said.
"I would imagine that most of us would feel like we were in imminent danger of losing our lives at that point and I think the officer responded with what he thought was commensurate force."
Some reports, however, said some eyewitnesses disputed that account.
A woman who identified herself as the victim's mother, Toni Martin, said her son was running when he was shot and killed.
"His girlfriend told me that the police was messing with them," Martin said on CNN.
"When he was trying to get up and run, they started shooting him. They won't tell me nothing. They won't even let me see my baby."
Berkeley cannot be compared to Ferguson: Mayor
The shooting is the latest in several such incidents that led to months of protests over how police in the United States interact with the country's black community.
In August, black teenager Michael Brown was shot dead by white officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson.
But Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins said his city cannot be compared to Ferguson when it comes to racial profiling.
He told reporters most city officials and police officers in Berkeley - a town of 9000 which is 85 per cent black - are African American.
"Our police officers are more sensitive and it's because of the black and white relationship, it's because they interact, so you get a better understanding, that's why I believe we are different than the city of Ferguson," he said.
"Everybody don't die the same. Some people die because the policeman initiated it, some people die because they initiated it, and at this point, our review indicates that the police did not initiate this," Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins said.
He said both St Louis County and local Berkeley police were conducting independent investigations of the incident.
Another black man, Eric Garner, died after being choked by New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo after he arrested on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes on Staten Island in July.
Two separate grand juries declined to indict the officers in either case, sparking weeks of sometimes violent protests in cities across the United States.
Already tense racial relations were further frayed over the weekend fatal shootings of two officers in Brooklyn, by an apparently emotionally disturbed man whose online postings suggested he was motivated by a desire for revenge over the recent police killings.
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