Official Autopsy Of Michael Brown Shows Teen Was Shot At Close Range

An analysis by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of the St. Louis County medical examiner's official autopsy on Michael Brown shows the black 18-year-old man was shot in the hand at close range and had marijuana in his system.

Brown was shot and killed during a confrontation with a police officer on August 9 in Ferguson, Missouri.

One of the findings from the autopsy was the trajectory of shots fired by officer Darren Wilson at Brown, particularity the sixth shot

“It traveled from the back of Michael Brown’s arm to the inner arm which means that his palms could not have been facing Wilson as some witnesses have said,”  Christine Byers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch told Here & Now's Robin Young.

“The trajectory supports that Brown was not taking the standard surrender position with his arms above his shoulders and palms out when he was hit” Byers said.

Byers also said that the findings are consistent with police officer Darren Wilson's statements that Brown had reached in the police officer's car and struggled for the gun.

“It shows that there is forensic evidence to support a struggle over the weapon. It certainly doesn’t fully explain how that struggle began and what those circumstances were,” she said.