FLASHBACK: Eye witness releases video recorded right after shooting of Michael Brown

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Officer Darren Wilson was caught on cellphone footage looking at Michael Brown's lifeless body after he fired six shots at the unarmed teen on a Ferguson, Missouri street on August 9



A woman who claims she saw a police officer shoot dead Michael Brown has released video of his lifeless body in the street as the cop who killed him paces back and forth.

Piaget Crenshaw lives in an apartment with a balcony overlooking the street in Ferguson, Missouri where the 18-year-old was killed on August 9.


She said today that she waited until now to release the video as she feared for her safety and the officer's name had not been released.


On the cellphone footage, Ms Crenshaw can be heard saying: 'God bless his soul, police shot this boy outside my apartment.'


She told CNN today that she had recorded the incident because she believed that something was wrong.


'From it all initially happening, I knew this was not right,' Miss Crenshaw said.


'I knew the police shouldn't have been chasing this boy and firing at the same time. And the fact he got shot in his face, something clicked in me and I thought someone else should see this so I recorded.'


Piaget Crenshaw



Piaget Crenshaw (pictured today) said that she recorded the shooting of Michael Brown because she felt something wasn't right



Ms Crenshaw said that police had her footage after confiscating her phone following the shooting.

She questioned why they did not release this at the same time as the video of Michael Brown allegedly stealing cigars from a convenience store on Friday.


Ms Crenshaw said Officer Wilson paced back and forth along the street next to Michael Brown's body as if he was 'in disbelief' by what had just happened.


The woman was unclear what exactly happened between Brown and Wilson at the police cruiser but said that it appeared as if the officer was trying to pull the teenager into the car.


She said Brown got away and she heard shots fired, none of which appeared to hit Brown although she believed one grazed him.


It was then Brown 'turned around and was shot multiple times'.


She added: 'He was running away and when he [Brown] turned around he was shot.'


Officer Wilson is now on paid administrative leave following the shooting death of Michael Brown, pending the outcome of the investigation into the shooting.


The 28-year-old officer won a commendation for 'extraordinary effort in the line of duty' on February of this year.


'He never intended for any of this to happen,' Ferguson police Chief Thomas Jackson said last week. 'It's devastating, absolutely devastating.'


A friend of Officer Wilson reportedly came to his defense on Wednesday saying that the cop shot and killed Michael Brown because the teen tried to grab his gun, punched him in the face and then charged at him.


A woman calling herself 'Josie' called a local St Louis radio station on Friday claiming to be a friend of the 28-year-old Ferguson police officer.


The woman, who said she was a friend of the cop's girlfriend, said friends and family were too afraid to speak out but she wanted the public to know that Brown, 18, had 'bum-rushed' Officer Wilson prior to the shooting.


'He pulled up ahead of them. And then he got a call-in that there was a strong-arm robbery. And, they gave a description,' the friend told .


'Tries to get out of his car. They slam his door shut violently. I think he said Michael did. And, then he opened the car again. He tried to get out. He stands up,' she continued.


'And then Michael just bum-rushes him and shoves him back into his car. Punches him in the face and them Darren grabs for his gun. Michael grabbed for the gun. At one point he got the gun entirely turned against his hip.


'And he shoves it away. And the gun goes off.


'Well, then Michael takes off and gets to be about 35 feet away. And, Darren's first protocol is to pursue.


'So, he stands up and yells, ''Freeze!'' Michael and his friend turn around.


'And Michael taunts him... And then all the sudden he just started bum-rushing him. He just started coming at him full speed.


So [Wilson] really thinks [Brown] was on something, because he just kept coming. It was unbelievable.


'And so he finally ended up, the final shot was in the forehead, and then he fell about two to three feet in front of the officer.'




Michael brown darren wilson



Michael Brown (pictured right) was shot multiple times by police officer Darren Wilson as he turned around with his hands up, an eye-witness said today



The friend's report, which has not been verified, added to the growing number of different versions of events from the day of the fatal shooting.

An independent autopsy revealed on Monday that Michael Brown died from a 'kill shot' to the top of the head - but could have survived his five other bullet wounds.


Dr Michael Baden, who was asked by the family to perform post-mortem examination, told a press conference that he had reassured the teen's mother, Lesley McSpadden, that her son had not suffered.


The family's autopsy, which was released on Sunday, revealed the unarmed 18-year-old had been shot at least six times by police officer Darren Wilson including twice in the head and four times in the right arm.


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Attorney Benjamin Crump holds a drawing of a preliminary autopsy report of Michael Brown showing six bullets struck his body



Eye-witnesses have also claimed that Brown had his hands up to signal that he was surrendering.

However assistant pathologist Shawn Parcells told CNN on Monday afternoon that it cannot be proved from the initial autopsy whether Brown was rushing the officer or simply standing at a distance.


Family lawyer Benjamin Crump described the teen's death as an 'execution in broad daylight'. He said it was important for the family to have their own autopsy results as they did not trust the work of the local police.


Later on Monday the St Louis County medical examiner also confirmed that Brown had been shot between six and eight times.


Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson released the name of Officer Wilson last Friday after mounting public pressure. He had waited after saying that the officer received death threats on social media.


The shooting of the unarmed black teenager has sparked eight days of protests in the once quiet Missouri suburb.


Protests over the teen's shooting on August 9 had seen looting and violence in the area. Following a brief calm, trouble returned at the end of last week, prompting Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to put a curfew in place from midnight to 5 a.m.


Nixon lifted the curfew on Monday while ordering the National Guard to help restore order.


He deployed the Guard on Monday following an overnight clash between armored police and what he called 'a violent criminal element intent upon terrorizing the community'.


Nixon said the Guard will be under the direction of the state Highway Patrol.


Calling for understanding in the face of racially charged anger, President Barack Obama said on Monday that the vast majority of protesters in a St. Louis suburb were peaceful, but warned that a small minority was undermining justice.


During a brief pause in his summer vacation, Obama expressed sympathy for the 'passions and anger' sparked by the death of Brown but said giving in to that anger through looting and attacks on police only stirs tensions and leads to further chaos.


He said overcoming the mistrust endemic between many communities and their local police would require Americans to 'listen and not just shout.'


'That's how we're going to move forward together, by trying to unite each other and understand each other and not simply divide ourselves from one another,' Obama told reporters at the White House.


Obama also said that Eric Holder would travel to Ferguson this week to meet with FBI and other officials carrying out an independent federal investigation into Brown's death.


After Obama spoke, the Attorney General announced that over 40 FBI agents are currently conducting an independent 'civil rights investigation' into Brown's death.


'The full resources of the Department of Justice are being committed to our federal civil rights investigation into the death of Michael Brown,' he said.


"During the day today, more than 40 FBI agents continued their canvassing of the neighborhood where Michael Brown was shot. As a result of this investigative work, several new interviews have already been conducted.'


President Obama had earlier told Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon he wanted to ensure the use the National Guard in help calm tensions in Ferguson would be limited in scope. He said he would be monitoring that operation in the coming days to see whether the guard's involvement was helping or hurting.


Obama also weighed in for the first time publicly on the militarization of some local police departments, saying it probably would be useful to examine how federal grant dollars had been used to allow local police to purchase military-style equipment, an issue that's come to the forefront amid the violent protests in Ferguson.


Obama said the distinction between the military and domestic law enforcement was one of the great things about America.


Just hours after Obama's speech, which included calls for the rights of a free press, a photographer working for the Getty photography agency was arrested in Ferguson. Scott Olson was arrested because he wasn't in the required media area, said police.


Watch the video and Piaget Crenshaw's interview below.


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And more eye-witnesses accounts:

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