St. Louis Police Fatally Shoot 16-Year-Old Black Teen, Claim He Was Reaching For His Gun

A 16-yer-old Black teenager in Missouri was fatally shot as he was reaching for his gun that had fallen to the ground, the St. Louis police said.

The Force Investigation Unit is probing the death of the victim, identified as Darryl Ross.

The series of events began after two drug enforcement detectives arrived at a Shell gas station in an undercover vehicle at around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. They saw several people with firearms in the parking lot of the station and drove over to the spot, the Associated Press reported.

In plain clothes and black bulletproof vests that read "POLICE" on the front and back, two officers began following Ross on foot as the teenager walked toward to an alley.

The armed teenager suddenly tripped over a curb and dropped his gun. As he reached out for the gun, both the officers, one Black and one white, shot the teenager.

The teenager was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The officers have been identified as a 37-year-old man who has worked with the police force for 14 years and a 27-year-old man, who has worked with the force for 4 years.

They were not wearing body cameras during the incident, Public Safety Director Dan Isom reportedly said.

The deceased teenager's grandparents said they were waiting for answers on the events that led to the boy's death.

"He loved his brothers and siblings," his grandmother, Tanya Thomas, told News 4. "He was a very smart kid, good in school ... He didn't deserve to get mauled down by the police."

"That baby, he had no gun in his hand," Thomas added, speaking about the night Ross was killed. "He was running for his life and he fell on the ground. They still shoot. Come one. Who wouldn't want justice."

"Give us justice, arrest them. they murdered Darryl Ross for no reason," the bereaved grandmother went on to say. "Those cops need to go to jail. That's where they put bad people right?"

Mayor Tishuara Jones released a statement in light of the shooting.

"Losing our youth to violence shows how our system has failed them time and time again," Jones said. "Reflecting on the circumstances that led up to this young man's death breaks my heart, both as a mayor and as a mother of a teenage son."

Jones further confirmed the Force Investigation Unit is handling the case and will "pass information on to the Circuit Attorney's Office and then on to the Civilian Oversight Board."

"Officers involved have been placed on administrative duty," Jones added.