FERGUSON, Missouri—The family of the unarmed black 18-year-old, who was fatally shot in Missouri called for calm on Friday as a grand jury drew closer to an announcement on whether to charge the officer who shot him.
The Saint Louis area was on edge as it awaited word on whether the panel would indict officer Darren Wilson in the August 9 death of Michael Brown. The shooting of a young black man by a white police officer led to protests, some of which turned violent. The case reigniting a fiery debate in the US over race relations between police departments and the minority communities they serve. In Ferguson, the city outside Saint Louis where Brown was killed, two-thirds of residents are black but the police force is almost entirely white
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has sent nearly 100 additional agents to Ferguson to help law enforcement prepare for possible unrest ahead of the grand jury decision, according to a US official who was not authorized to discuss the FBI plans by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ed Magee, a spokesman for county Prosecutor Bob McCulloch, said Friday in an e-mail to reporters that the grand jury is still reviewing the case. The time, date and place for a news conference announcing the decision had not been decided, he wrote.
Wilson, 28, reportedly told the grand jury he feared for his life as Brown, who was 6-foot-4 and nearly 300 pounds, came at him. Witnesses said Brown was trying to surrender and had his hands up.