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Warning: This video is very graphic.

Antonio Martin was an 18-year-old armed Black teenager who was shot and killed by police officers in the Berkeley, St. Louis. Here’s what the news has been reporting:

A crowd of up 300 protesters gathered at the Mobil gas station after the shooting and four arrests were made after police officers were assaulted. Many of the protestors claimed on social media that Martin was not armed when he was shot. People gathered at the scene, demanding police explain what happened. Twitter users report the body of Antonio had been blocked from view. According to bystanders, the teen was alive for about 30 minutes after being shot.

According to reports a police officer was conducting a routine check at the Mobil gas station in the suburb of Berkeley, St. Louis at about 11:15 pm local time. The officer saw two male suspects and approached them. One man pulled a handgun and pointed it at the police officer. The officer fired “several” shots and Martin was struck once and the other suspect ran off.

At St Louis police chief Jon Belmar’s press conference, we find out that the officer who shot Martin is a 34-year-old White man who’s been on the force for six years. Now Mayor Theodore Hoskins said at a press conference that the officers were responding to reports of a theft. But Hoskins also said that the officer saved his life by shooting Martin. Wow. So this is why these men are called suspects throughout every single news article reporting this.

Reports claim that the gun Martin had was a “defaced” 9mm pistol. Only one shot of the “several” that police shot at Martin and his escaped friend managed to hit Martin, killing him. But remember, many witnesses claim Martin was still breathing as he laid out in the gas station parking lot for a half an hour.

Several bricks were thrown at police officers and three “explosive devices” thought to be fireworks bound together were set off. We could see this clearly from the Vine videos that have been shared on social media. However, Belmar claimed that the officers weren’t familiar with the techology of their body cams and the grainy surveillance video was “really pretty good.” This is a man’s life and video we could barely see is “really pretty good” enough to determine that the officer needed to use deadly force.

Antonio Martin has lost his life and there’s so many questions. Of course we’re going to hear more about who Martin was before his untimely death and because he’s already an “armed suspect,” he’s been stamped a bad guy. According to The Guardian, Martin had a record of three armed assaults and other charges for theft since he turned 17. Antonio’s mother, Toni Martin later told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that her son was expelled from school, but was trying to gain employment via Jobs Corps, a US program offering free-of-charge education and vocational training to young people.

Hashtag #AntonioMartin is trending on social media and is giving an on-the-ground look at what’s going on at the crime scene and with this case. Perhaps this coverage can help clear up what’s so very foggy about this shooting. Also, follow @ValerieHahn on Twitter for updates.

Our hearts go out to the Martin family. And while investigations are only just starting, we’re very confused about some of the details in this case. Something’s just not adding up with this one.

Here’s Our Questions:

1. Were there protests already going on at the store before Antonio was shot?

2. Why does the gas station only have a grainy video of the shooting and stops at the point when Antonio is shot?

3. If Antonio was pointing a gun at the police, why was the girl shown in the video casually walking into the gas station?

4. Where is the “other suspect” that they claim was with Antonio? When the police cruiser pulls up, we don’t see anyone fleeing the scene. The reports say he fled the scene when the shooting started, but we don’t see him in the video?

5. Why wasn’t the police officer’s body cam, that he was indeed wearing, on at the time?

6. Why are witnesses’ Vine videos so much clearer than the only video of Martin’s shooting?

What do you think about this case? Sound off in the comments below.

A Video Of Martin’s Mother:

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Police Shoot & Kill Antonio Martin, A Black Teenager, 2 Miles From Ferguson & We Have Some Questions  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com