Private autopsy: St. Louis teen shot 8 times by officer
ST. LOUIS — An autopsy conducted by a pathologist hired by the family of Vonderrit Myers indicates the 18-year-old black teen was shot eight times by a white off-duty officer.
The pathologist, Dr. Cyril Wecht, released his initial findings at a presentation Thursday, hours after he studied the body of Myers, who was killed earlier this month in St. Louis' Shaw neighborhood. Wecht said two of the eight shots were to the front of Myers' body and six were to the back of his legs..
Police say Myers, who was on house arrest, fired at an off-duty St. Louis police officer, who was working security in the neighborhood. The officer shot back and, according to Wecht, hit Myers eight times.
Wecht, , who has provided reports in several high-profile cases — most notably in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — says the wounds show Myers was at one point running away, and likely uphill, from the shooter.
Wecht says Myers must have turned around for what he believes were the final two shots. One of them, was to the front of his thigh, which shattered his femur. The other, was a shot to his head, which Wecht says would have rendered him immediately unconscious, inflecting severe brain damage. Wecht says the trajectory of the final two shots show he was likely uphill from the shooter when shot in the leg, but was not uphill from the shooter when shot in the head.
Wecht says the presence of gunshot residue on Myers is evidence he was near a gun being fired, but said he could not speculate about whether Myers shot the gun.
Wecht also says his findings are consistent with the initial diagram provided to him by the medical examiner's office. Both parties plan to release their final reports within seven to 10 weeks.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department released this statement Thursday:
"The investigation into the fatal shooting of Vonderrit Myers by a St. Louis Police Officer is ongoing. As new information and evidence emerges, it will be included in the investigation. The Department is committed to ensuring a thorough investigation and has pledged to remain transparent throughout the investigation."
The autopsy findings come a day after reports that the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's Office concluded Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen who was killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August, was shot in the hand at close range and had marijuana in his system.
The county report in some ways differs from the autopsy conducted at the request of Brown's family, which concluded the shots were fired from at least a foot away and as far as 30 feet away.
The shooting set off weeks of unrest in the predominantly black community outside St. Louis. A grand jury is hearing the case and will decide whether to charge officer Darren Wilson with Brown's death.