Mom of man killed by St. Louis cop: He was unarmed

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The mother of a black 18-year-old who was killed by an off-duty St. Louis police officer says her son wasn’t armed, as investigators contend.

Syreeta Myers told The Associated Press by phone Thursday that her son, Vonderrit D. Myers, was holding a sandwich when the officer killed him Wednesday night.

Police haven’t identified the officer or the person he killed, or disclosed the officer’s race. The killing sparked an angry demonstration, with many protesters likening it to the August killing of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white officer in nearby Ferguson.

St. Louis’ police chief says the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting fired first on the uniformed officer and got off three rounds before his gun jammed. He says the officer fired 17 rounds.