Black Teenager Shot by St. Louis Police Officer
BURNETT: Breaking news, protesters in St. Louis, Missouri, gathering right now, angry at the death of a black teenager who was shot and killed by a white police officer. Last night's protests were violent. Protesters burning at least one American flag in a particularly ugly demonstration. Tonight, the parents of the dead teen are speaking out to our Jason Carroll.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kids are supposed to bury their parents. He was my only child. He was my baby. He was my baby and they took him away from me.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vonderrit Myer's mother and father sit in the same church they have taken their son to on so many Sundays and it might be the same place they eulogize him in the coming days.</s>SYREETA MYERS, VONDERRITT DEONDRE MYERS' MOTHER: I'll never get to feel him again, talk to him, see his big smile, and get his big tight hug. I'll never get to feel him again. My life is empty now.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vonderrit's mother and father sit at the same church they have taken their son to on so many Sundays, it will likely be the place they eulogize him in the coming days.</s>SYREETA MYERS, VONDERRIT'S MOTHER: I'll never get to see him again, talk to him, get a big smile, get his big and tight hugs. I never get to feel him again. My life is empty now. My heart is empty.</s>CARROLL: Myers was shot by a St. Louis police officer on Wednesday night after police say he fired at the officer three times.</s>VONDERRIT MYERS, VONDERRIT'S FATHER: They took my son and destroyed his life. And now they are trying to destroy his character. And I'm to going to allow that to happen.</s>CARROLL: Myers' parents do not believe the account of what happened. The 18-year-old seen on this store surveillance video minutes before the shooting Wednesday night. He was wearing a black printed t-shirt. The family attorney says no gun is seen beneath Myers' clothes. Police say shortly Myers and his friends left the store, that an off- duty officer noticed something and confronted Myers.</s>CHIEF SAM DOTSON, ST. LOUIS POLICE: There was a physical altercation between the office and the suspect where they were hands on fires at least three shots towards the officer in which the officer defends himself against the fire.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are saying this young man fired at the officer first and that the officer returned fire.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The witnesses we spoke to, none of them say this young man fired at an officer. None of them say this young man had a gun.</s>JERRYL CHRISTMAS, MYERS FAMILY ATTORNEY: Saul he did, as his mother said, is buy a sandwich. So now is it illegal to be eaten while black.</s>CARROLL: St. Louis police say a 9mm handgun was recovered at the scene. Ballistics test still pending. Myers, they say, was known to police. He was out on bound for a previous gun-related offense. A peaceful candlelight vigil was held for Myers Thursday evening. Later in the night, more clashes between the police and demonstrators in a community already on the edge over the distrust of the police.</s>S. MYERS: Who are you to decide when life is supposed to end? That was my baby.</s>CARROLL: The Myers family has seen all of the protests that have occurred here in the community and they know about more protests that are planned. They are asking demonstrators to be peaceful. Also, Erin, in terms of when Myers will be buried, they said they are still so grief-stricken, they still haven't had a chance to plan his burial -- Erin.</s>ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, OUTFRONT: All right, Jason Carroll, thank you. But please don't go anywhere. Jason is going to stay with us and we are also now going to be bringing in criminal defense attorney and prosecutor Paul Callan. All right, Paul, let me just start with you. Police say, this is their version right, that this teenager, Vonderrit, fired three shots at the officer who then fired back 17 times. This count though</s>PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: You know, it is a damaging video on the surface as far as carrying a gun. But bear in mind, the gun involved is an automatic, which can be put in the small of the back or in an area where witness are not be a large bulge.</s>BURNETT: How big would it be?</s>CALLAN: Well, it wouldn't be huge. You can hide it. But -- I mean, what troubles me in terms of the police officer's story is that, of course, one of the things he says is that he saw a bulge at one point. I think one of the reports, at least, was that one of the young men slowed down because to adjust their pants and that is when he saw the gun or the bulge. So you would think it would be more obvious than in the video. But we don't know what happened once he went outside of the door. And you know, there was another report, by the way, that seems quite contradictory about a gray sweatshirt being worn by the person who fired the gun. That was said by police earlier today. So that would be contradictory to what his current dress is in the video.</s>BURNETT: And Jason, of course, you look at him buying that water bottle. I mean, could he have stuck that in the back of his pants and that is a bulge. I mean, there is a lot of questions, but I know, Jason, the St. Louis police say that a 9mm gun was recovered at the scene. I know you have been saying ballistic tests are still pending, but I guess the question is, is there a way to definitively answered who shot that gun? Because I know the question is was it Vonderrit, who we saw in that video, or maybe one of his friends, meaning Vonderrit did not fire and was unarmed.</s>CARROLL: Well, a couple of things there. I did ask Myers' attorney about the gray shirt sort of controversy being that was sort of been talked about here and the attorney did acknowledge that once he got outside, that he did change and put on some sort of a gray sweatshirt. That is first. Second, I also asked him, the attorney, I said could it be a possibility that once he left the store, even though you didn't see a bulge inside of the store on that surveillance video, is there a possibility that once he left that he obtained a gun in the ten minutes since he left the video store and then we have the shooting? It he said possibly. But he said not likely. Not based on the people that they have spoken to, not based on the witnesses that they said that they have spoken to that say he was unarmed.</s>CALLAN: Jason, where does he get the gray t-shirt, though? It is not around his waist or over his shoulder. So if he could pick up a gray t-shirt, who is to say he couldn't pick up a gun when we went outside? Where does the shirt come from?</s>CARROLL: Well, I think that is something that will be determined later on in terms of whether or not the whole idea of the gun situation. But in terms of the gray sweatshirt, I asked him about that. Because as you know, you hear police say that the officer said that he wrestled with the other suspect, who was wearing a gray sweatshirt, very clear on that surveillance tape that he was wearing a black t-shirt. I said to the attorney, have you talked about this gray sweatshirt, t-shirt sort of, back and forth and he said yes, we have. He said it is very clear once he left the store, that was not seen on the surveillance tape, that he at some point put on the gray sweatshirt it. It was cold.</s>BURNETT: All right, Paul, let me just play again one more time. Because when you look at the video for a third time, what you see is he is wearing his pants really low. I mean, they are really low. You can see his underwear. So, I mean, you would see a gun if it was sticking in the back of his pants, at this particular angle. And now as you say, maybe he got one later. But to this point of this video, and then the fact that they find the 9mm gun, are they going to be able to prove, from what you know and you've done these cases before, definitively that Vonderrit who fired that gun? Vonderrit who was holding the gun or not?</s>CALLAN: Well, the first things is the officer, apparently, has said the he actually physically grappled with one of the youths, presumably the gunman, in advance of them running away. So the officer may be able to identify him by appearance. And the second thing that he is going to be persuasive, I think ultimately is if there are gun charges pending against him which we have reports of, he kind of looks like if he has carried a gun in the past, why is it so surprising that he might have been carrying a gun now.</s>BURNETT: Can I just ask you a question? I know no one knows exactly what happened and maybe we won't ever know, but let's just way it came to path that it was a friend who fired the gun, not Vonderrit, the police officer fired because he was threatened and fired at the wrong person, what happens to the police officer?</s>CALLAN: Well there is a doctrine called it is a transferred intent doctrine. And if the officer accidentally fired at the wrong person but was firing in good faith, he would not be necessarily guilty of a crime on that scenario.</s>BURNETT: All right, thanks very much to Paul and of course to Jason Carroll for that excellent interview with the Myers' family. Well, OUTFRONT next.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It leaves me speechless and you know I'm not speechless that often.</s>BURNETT: I know Suze. She under stated. She's never speechless, but she is tonight. And we'll tell you why. And defense secretary Chuck Hagel said Iraqi troops are up against the wall, cut off by ISIS. The big question tonight, will Baghdad fall?