UPDATED: Oct. 9 at 9:42 a.m. ET
Angry protesters gathered in St. Louis overnight after an off-duty police officer shot and killed a teen on Wednesday around 7.30 p.m. local time.
According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the police officer was working a secondary job in the southern portion of the city. He attempted to check on a pedestrian when the suspect fled on foot and turned and fired at the officer.
"Fearing for his safety, officer returned fire, striking the suspect, fatally wounding him," the police department tweeted. The police chief said the officer shot the teen 17 times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
In a statement, the police department said the 32-year-old white male officer, who has been on the force for six years, has been placed on administrative leave and was not injured. The family of the teen who died identified him as Vonderrit Myers Jr. He was 18 years old. His cousin, Teyonna Myers, told the Post-Dispatch that he was unarmed.
“He had a sandwich in his hand, and they thought it was a gun," she said. "It’s like Michael Brown all over again.”
The shooting took place just 17 miles -- just a 20-minute drive -- from where Brown was killed on Aug. 9.
An large crowd gathered at the scene overnight. Many of the protesters there have also been demonstrating in front of the Ferguson police department for weeks.
Dam they ripping on the cops https://t.co/1BKx4qEBmY— Search4Swag (@search4swag) October 9, 2014
Chanting "Our Streets!" and walking down #Shaw avenue. #shawshooting #STL pic.twitter.com/Eft94dGxJX— Matthew Wyczalkowski (@MaciekStL) October 9, 2014
Fatal police officer involved shooting scene on 4100 block of Shaw in #stl, growing crowd upset pic.twitter.com/5eNkWj4Frq— David Carson (@PDPJ) October 9, 2014
More unrest in #stlouis tonight following another police involved deadly shooting. http://t.co/02JzdvmakC pic.twitter.com/HA8DcvH4iV— ShawnYancy (@Fox5Shawn) October 9, 2014
The angry crowd at the scene could be heard chanting "The whole damn system is guilty as hell" and "Stop killing us," from a livestream posted by an onlooker.
People took over the street, marching and pushing police out, saying "Whose street? Our street." A fire brigade was brought to the scene for an unknown reason as the intensity of the protesters increased.
RT | This is an apparent witness account of tonight's STL shooting. It's short. Must watch. https://t.co/VPoEwj3ZHq #ShawShooting— Tyree Boyd-Pates (@TyreeBP) October 9, 2014
Suspect's aunt cries: "they shot my Drew 16 times. All he had was a sandwich" ; fatal police shooting Klemm&Shaw So StL @FOX2now— Andy Banker (@andybankertv) October 9, 2014
Heard rapid shots fired near deadly PD shtg scene in SoStL; 10-15 shots; police checking @FOX2now pic.twitter.com/r9aMcsU4zx— Andy Banker (@andybankertv) October 9, 2014