On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson. Wilson, a white male Ferguson police officer, said that an altercation ensued when Brown attacked him in his police vehicle for control of his service pistol. Johnson claimed that Wilson initiated the confrontation by grabbing Brown by the neck through Wilson's patrol car window, threatening him and then shooting at Brown. At this point, both Wilson and Johnson state that Brown and Johnson fled, with Wilson pursuing Brown shortly thereafter. Wilson stated that Brown then stopped, turned around and charged at him after the short pursuit.