Gunshot Residue Found on Vonderrit Myers, Police Say

By Julianne Hing Oct 15, 2014

Vonderrit Myers Jr., the 18-year-old black man who was shot and killed by St. Louis police last week, had gunshot residue on his hands and clothing, according to crime lab results. The findings, reported by St. Louis’ KSDK, are an added piece of evidence as investigators and the public work to build a coherent timeline of events before a uniformed off-duty St. Louis police officer shot and killed Myers last Wednesday. The findings don’t, however, reconcile the divergent accounts of what happened before Myers was killed.

KSDK’s Kevin Held reports:

The tests confirm gunshot residue on Myers’ hand, the inner waistband of his jeans, and on his T-shirt. Investigators say the presence of gunshot residue on a person’s hands could mean that individual fired a gun, was near a gun when it was fired, or touched an object with gunshot residue on it. Also, people who are shot at close range can have gunshot residue on their person.

In the wake of the shooting, Myers’ family insisted that he was unarmed and holding a sandwich. According to police, the uniformed off-duty officer approached Myers and two others last Wednesday before they scattered. When the cop confronted Myers, police say, Myers discharged a gun three times before the cop responded with gunshots of his own, killing the teen.

Myers’ prior interactions with the criminal justice system show that he was "no angel," the St. Louis Police Association said according to the St. Louis American. It’s a loaded descriptor though. The New York Times, in its much-criticized profile of slain teen Michael Brown, also described Brown as "no angel," a phrase the paper reserved for convicted white rapists and murderers, a Nazi field marshal and Magic Johnson. Brown and Myers, both black and 18 years old, were shot and killed by police officers exactly two months apart.