Michael Brown, the 18-year-old unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, a week ago, was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, according to an independent autopsy.
Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former New York City chief medical examiner, flew to Missouri at the Brown family's request to perform the autopsy,
The New York Times reported Sunday night.
Vote Now: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance?
Baden's results showed six entry wounds, four in the right arm. One of the two shots to the head was on the top, indicating his head was lowered and was likely the last shot fired and the one that killed him, Baden said.
"This is a very provocative report. It will be taken that way," the Rev. Jesse Jackson told CNN. Tensions are already high over the shooting by a white police officer.
Jackson said the fact that a shot entered the top of Brown's head shows he was kneeling in surrender, supporting eyewitness accounts that he had his hands raised and was asking the officer not to shoot.
"This is bound to escalate tensions," Jackson said.
The shots do not appear to have been fired from close range because there was no gunpowder residue on the body, the autopsy said. But Baden did not have access to Brown's clothing, which could have had contained residue.
The Ferguson Police Department says Brown attacked the officer and that the first shot was fired from inside the officer's patrol car.
U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder told the Times the Justice Department plans its own autopsy because of "the extraordinary circumstances involved in this case and at the request of the Brown family."
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.