Protesters perform a “hands up, don’t shoot” chant at a new teddy bear memorial on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo., near the spot of where Michael Brown was shot by Ferguson police office Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. The original teddy bear memorial was destroyed by fire earlier Tuesday morning. Ferguson police spokesman Devin James says the cause of the fire is under investigation. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, David Carson)
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A fire has destroyed one of two memorials at the site where 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Ferguson resident Meldon Moffitt said the fire started around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday on Canfield Drive, the street where Brown was fatally shot Aug. 9 by Ferguson police office Darren Wilson.
About two dozen residents gathered at the site Tuesday morning, many of them angry. One man said it was like a grave being desecrated.
Ferguson police spokesman Devin James says the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Brown’s death led to several days of protests and unrest in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb. Investigations into the shooting by a state grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice are ongoing.