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Michael Brown shooting case: Gunshots ring out, tear gas fired as violence returns to Ferguson after grand jury's decision to not charge Darren Wilson

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A police car burns during clashes between police and protesters over the decision in the shooting death
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A Missouri grand jury voted not to charge a white police officer for the fatal August shooting of an unarmed black teenager, an incident that set off weeks of sometimes violent protests around the St. Louis area, a county prosecutor said on Monday.

Angry crowds took to the streets around the Ferguson, Missouri, police department and there were flashes of violence after the grand jury determined there was no probable cause to charge officer Darren Wilson with any crime for the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The incident highlighted longstanding racial tensions in the predominantly black city, which has a white-dominated power structure. "They determined that no probable cause exists to file any charge against officer Wilson," St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch told reporters in Clayton, Missouri, the St. Louis suburb where the grand jury met.

Brown's family said they were "profoundly disappointed" by the grand jury's finding. "While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change," the family said in a statement released by its attorneys.

Attorneys for Wilson, who has avoided the spotlight since the shooting, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Barack Obama called for protesters to remain peaceful and for police to show restraint. "We are a nation built on the rule of law and so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make," Obama in a televised news conference. "We need to recognize that the situation in Ferguson speaks to broader challenges that we still face as a nation. The fact remains that in too many parts of this country a deep distrust exists between police and communities of color."

Shots Heard

Gunshots rang out and police lobbed tear gas at an angry crowd that threw bottles outside the Ferguson Police Department in suburban St. Louis after a grand jury decided not to indict a white officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teen.

Outrage over the decision fueled what had been mostly peaceful protests across the United States on Monday, including in New York City where marchers chanting "Black lives matter" snarled traffic on Broadway through Times Square.

In Chicago, demonstrators walked up Lake Shore Drive carrying banners that read "Justice for Mike Brown" - the 18-year-old who was shot and killed in Ferguson on August 9.

Police in Ferguson used smoke canisters and trucks to force waves of violent protesters down the street away from the police building soon after sporadic gunshots were heard. Flames from a burning car rose into the night sky.

A crowd of several hundred people gathered outside the Ferguson Police Department ahead of the news, and many began to scream angrily as the news of the grand jury's decision was read. "Murderers, you're nothing but murderers," one woman shouted through a megaphone at officers clad in riot gear. "Stinking murderers."

Whistles pierced the air as some of the hundreds of protesters tried to keep the peace, shouting, "Don't run, don't run."

Police who formed a wall of clear riot shields outside the precinct were pelted with bottles and cans as the crowd surged up and down the street immediately after authorities said the grand jury had voted not to indict Officer Darren Wilson. "Murderers, you're nothing but murderers," protesters in the crowd shouted. One woman, speaking through a megaphone said, "Stinking murderers."

Dozens of police and military vehicles were poised for possible mass arrests not far from the stretch of Ferguson streets that saw the worst of the rioting after Wilson shot Brown in August. "They need to feel the pain these mothers feel at the (expletive) cemetery," shouted Paulette Wilkes, 40, a teacher's assistant who was in the crowd at the police department.

A smaller, calmer crowd of about three dozen protesters gathered outside the courthouse where the grand jury had met. In that crowd, a white woman held a sign that read: "Black Lives Matter." Many of the protesters looked stunned. "That's just how the justice system works - the rich are up there and the poor are down here," said Antonio Burns, 25, who is black and lives in the Ferguson area. The police "think they can get away with it," Burns said.

A handful of Amnesty International volunteers in bright vests tried to maintain the peace. Brown's family quickly urged a non-violent response to the grand jury's decision.

Officials urged tolerance and assured residents that the National Guard would provide security at critical facilities like fire houses, police stations and utility substations. "I do not want people in this community to think they have to barricade their doors and take up arms," St. Louis County Executive Director Charlie Dooley said before the grand jury's decision was announced.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called up the National Guard ahead of the announcement of the decision to guard against the kind of rioting that flared in the weeks after the Aug. 9 shooting.

Some activists described the decision to preemptively activate the guard as unnecessarily heavy-handed, particularly following complaints that police inflamed crowds in August by responding in a heavily militarized posture, using tear gas and rubber bullets.

The grand jury, with nine white and three black members, began meeting in late August and heard evidence that included witnesses called by the prosecution as well as a private pathologist hired by the Brown family to review the shooting. Nine jurors needed to agree to bring charges.

McCulloch declined to say if the jury's decision was unanimous, noting that grand jury proceedings are completely secret and that only the jury members themselves know the details of the proceedings.

Conflicting Accounts

McCulloch described a tangled mass of conflicting testimony from 60 witnesses about what happened during the incident that led to Brown's death, but said much of it did not square with the physical evidence.

"Many of the same witnesses acknowledged that they did not see the shooting," McCulloch said. "The grand jury worked tirelessly to examine and reexamine the testimony of all the witnesses and all the physical evidence."

Lawyers for Brown's family say the teen was trying to surrender when he was shot, while Wilson's supporters say he feared for his life and opened fire in self-defense.

Witnesses disagreed on whether Brown's hands were up at the time he was shot, McCulloch said, adding that Wilson shot at Brown 12 times, with the final shot hitting Brown in the top of his head.

Brown is suspected of having stolen cigars from a nearby convenience store shortly before the incident. Brown and a friend had been walking down the middle of the street when Wilson approached them. Police said in August that Wilson was not aware of the robbery at the time.

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