Mike Brown Shooting: Officer's Name Won't Be Released Tuesday

Citing threats against the officer who shot and killed Missouri teen Mike Brown, the Ferguson Police Department said Tuesday morning it would not be releasing the name of the officer, as planned for Tuesday. Ferguson police spokesman Timothy Zoll told St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK that there’s no timetable for the release of the name.

Authorities originally said they would release the officer’s name in the Mike Brown shooting sometime between noon and 1 p.m. CDT. The unnamed officer has received threats on social media, Zoll said.

In a case that sparked outrage, protests and looting in the St. Louis suburb, Brown, an unarmed black teen, was shot and killed Saturday by a Ferguson police officer. Accounts differ as to the circumstances of the shooting. Brown supporters said the 18-year-old high school graduate had his hands in the air in surrender when the officer fired. But police said Brown went after the officer’s gun and attacked him, prompting the shooting, according to CNN.

A vigil for Brown on Sunday was followed by protests and the looting of several shops. A convenience store was also burned down as residents vented their anger at an incident that Brown’s supporters viewed as another Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teen who was shot and killed by volunteer community watchman George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012. Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder in a verdict that stunned Martin supporters.