Publications
Partners
Ferguson - Michael Brown, the black teen whose killing by a Missouri police officer has prompted more than a week of unrest, was shot at least six times, pathologists retained by his family said on Monday.
"Six bullets struck, and two may have re-entered" the 18-year-old's body, said Michael Baden, tasked by Brown's family and lawyers to conduct an independent examination on his remains.
One of the bullets hit the top of Brown's head, another struck his eye, while others were located on his right arm, Baden told a press conference in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson.
"All of the gunshot wounds could have been survivable, except the one at the top of the head," he said.
Baden said he had found no evidence of an alleged struggle between Brown and the officer, who is said to have been hurt in the incident, but added that he had not examined the policeman.
The absence of gunpowder on Brown's body indicated that the muzzle of the gun could have been as close as a foot or two away, or 30 feet away, he added.
The respected former New York City chief medical examiner stressed his findings were preliminary and that he need to see X-rays taken by local coroners just before the bullets were removed Brown's corpse.
Brown's death on a sidewalk in broad daylight on 9 August prompted often violent protests in Ferguson, which has an African-American majority but a mainly white police force.
Three autopsies are under way: one by St Louis County authorities, another by the Brown family and a third by the US federal government, which is investigating possible civil rights violations.
