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Two St. Louis County police officers shot and killed a suspect after he charged at them while holding a knife, officials said in a statement early Saturday.
Police posted what they said was body cam video of the Friday night shooting in the St. Louis suburb of Jennings within hours of the incident.
Police had no option but to use deadly force, said St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar.
"The officers resorted to less lethal force to try and bring the incident to a safe conclusion with no loss of life, but this individual made the decision to refuse these attempts, and charge at officers with a deadly weapon," he said in a statement.
In the statement, police said they responded to a call from a woman who asked that her son, Thaddeus McCarroll, 23, be removed from her home. McCarroll, who was talking about going on a "journey" and mentioned "black revolution," had allegedly locked her out of the house and was walking around the house with several knives and a Samurai sword.
At 10:30 p.m. local time, police requested support from the force's Tactical Operations Unit, which began to negotiate with McCarroll, police said.
"After approximately one hour of negotiations, the subject exited the residence armed with a knife in one hand, and a Bible in the other," according to police. Officers then tried to get McCarroll to drop the knife, firing a "less lethal round" at him in an attempt to disarm him and ordering him to speak with them without holding the knife — but that didn't work, police said.
"The subject immediately charged the officers at a full run with the knife still in hand," police added. "Fearing for their safety, two officers shot the subject multiple times."
Police in Missouri and around the country have been under intense pressure to be transparent since the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen who was shot and killed by a white officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson on Aug. 9, 2014. Brown's death sparked nationwide protests and increased scrutiny of shootings involving police and minorities.
IN-DEPTH
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