Michael Brown Shot at Least 6 Times, Autopsy Reveals

Preliminary report from an independent inquiry

FERGUSON, Mo. — Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was killed by a police officer, sparking protests around the nation, was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, a preliminary private autopsy performed on Sunday found.

One of the bullets entered the top of Mr. Brown's skull, suggesting his head was bent forward when it struck him and caused a fatal injury, according to Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, who flew to Missouri on Sunday at the family's request to conduct the separate autopsy. It was likely the last of bullets to hit him, he said.

Comments

[Sevo]

I read that his hands were in the air; was that gossip? Anyone know?

[JeremyR]

No, it was lying to make the police bad, just like the reports he was shot in the back.

[Vapourwear]

It does wonder me: don't people realize anybody who knows anything about terminal ballistics, like an ME, can tell which direction a bullet was traveling when it entered the body, and thus the orientation of the body relative to the bore of the weapon?

[The Bruce]

It doesn't necessarily mean witnesses were lying, but mistaken. The officer may have fired at his back, missed. Brown goes on his knees, surrendering or cowering, and witnesses assume this means he was hit from behind.

[Vulgar Madman]

Shot in the top of the head? Are they going to say, he was charging them like a bull?

[JeremyR]

That's what the police officer apparently says what happened, and seems to be backed up a conversation between a witness and someone showing up at the scene asking what happened.

But hey, it must be a conspiracy. Or a magic bullet. Or maybe a drone?

[Debb]

There's video of witnesses saying Brown was running toward the Police officer. How fast he was running would need further study, I'm sure.

[steve baker]

We should all cower in our homes and let thugs do whatever they want.

And we should bribe the police and their political masters through taxation and direct payoffs to leave us alone.

Hey! It worked for tens of thousands of years, and still does in most parts of the world.

[Mark22]

Police is a local matter. You don't like the militarization of your police force? You don't like their use-of-deadly-force policy? Get involved in local politics and change it. It's both the easiest to get involved in and the most important for your daily life. Local decision making is libertarian, democratic, and effective, if people actually bother to get off their asses and get involved.

[Lyle]

Totally agree with this.

[Mark22]

When police shoot, they shoot to kill. And they will usually fire at least half a dozen shots.

http://www.pfoa.co.uk/110/shooting-to-wound

[Mark22]

When police shoot, they shoot to kill. And they will usually fire at least half a dozen shots.

http://www.pfoa.co.uk/110/shooting-to-wound

[straffinrun]

First, the Wild West wasn't nearly the murderfest portrayed in movies and many history textbooks.

Second, just from selectively released bits of an autopsy report you cannot judge what actually happened. We do know he wasn't shot in the back. We can probably deduce his hands weren't raised in a surrender gesture. We can't deduce how many shots were fired after he was going down.

I'm with you on the over reliance cops have on readily accessible firearms. IMO, the cops and state have embraced violence as a measure to combat violence which creates more violence as a reaction. The more force you put into a system the more reactive force is released. IOW, Michael Brown may well have attacked the cop and the behavior of cops may well have helped create Brown's violence. It's possible, I'd say likely, that Brown and the police are the bastards.

[Anon E. Mouse]

I wouldn't be bringing up anyone's IQ if I were you. Questions like "Why shouldn't watch commanders decide if guns need to be drawn?", are pretty fucking stupid.

[Mark22]

Why didn't the officer seek cover in his car until assessing the effect of the first bullet?

Cops always shoot to kill, and they will usually shoot half a dozen shots before reassessing: http://www.pfoa.co.uk/110/shooting-to-wound

Why do cops have guns at the ready anyway?

We do have unarmed peace officers as well, but they aren't generally called "cops".

Are cops IQs a paltry 104, on average?

That's a normal IQ, and police are pretty much in the middle among occupations:

http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/occupations.aspx

And it's a labor market; there are many better jobs than police, and those get filled by smarter people.

We're living in the 21st century, not the Wild West 19th.

The rules on the use of deadly force have been getting stricter over the years (i.e., police can use it less), but they are similar pretty much everywhere: police shoot to kill, and they shoot both to defend themselves and others, and to stop felony suspects from escaping.

[Sean Mack]

"It seems odd that anyone wouldn't drop after the first bullet strike."

Only if you don't know anything about guns or shooting incidents, does that seem odd.

[straffinrun]

Thanks, for the correction on "judge". The Taser angle is tricky. If they rely on non lethal tactics and ONE cop winds up dead they will use it as justification for ramping up the use of deadly force again. Catch 22. Of course that could be mitigated with a media that provided info which leads people to believe non lethal force is an overall net gain for society. But if it bleeds it leads. Oh and we'd have to stop the shield licking.

[The Bruce]

"We can probably deduce his hands weren't raised in a surrender gesture."

There is a wound to his hand. Is it unreasonable to think the wound to the hand, and top of the head, came from him being on his head being down, and hands/arms in front of his face in a defensive stance?

[straffinrun]

That's why I wrote "surrender gesture" not "defensive stance". I have a feeling the eyewitness accounts are going to turn out to be implausible. But we will see.

[The Bruce]

But the two are not mutually exclusive. Gun on him, he could be surrending with his head down, face up to protect himself from the weapon.

[straffinrun]

I'm assuming you're doing these gestures yourself like I am to see which one feels most natural. My wife is looking at me like I'm having a seizure. If we knew the exit and re entry points it would be much more clear.

[The Bruce]

Yes, my co-workers probably think I'm terrified of this morning's reports...