Michael Brown shot at least 6 times, independent autopsy shows

CNN

Ferguson, Missouri (CNN) -- Michael Brown was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, according to the preliminary results of an autopsy that his family requested.

Family attorney Anthony Gray said the independent autopsy, conducted Sunday, found that Brown was shot twice in the head and four times in the right arm -- all to the front of his body.

"This is bound to escalate tensions," the Rev. Jesse Jackson told CNN. "This is a very provocative report."

Indeed, even before the details of the autopsy came out, a day of peaceful protests devolved into a night of gunfire, Molotov cocktails and tear gas late Sunday night.

Officers fired tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of protesters, including children, who were marching toward a police command post despite an impending midnight curfew.

St. Louis County police said several protesters had thrown Molotov cocktails toward the officers before authorities shot tear gas toward them. A captain with the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department told CNN, "Shots were fired in our direction."

But protester Lisha Williams challenged that narrative.

"That is a lie. It was no fight, it was no shots fired," Williams told CNN. "All we did was march to the command center to fall to our knees and say, 'Don't shoot.' And they started shooting."

Autopsy details

Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot dead nine days ago by a white police officer. Last week, the St. Louis County police department said an original autopsy found that Brown, 18, died of gunshot wounds. But the department wouldn't say how many times he was shot or any other details.

The last of information prompted Brown's family to request an independent autopsy.

According to the preliminary results of the family autopsy, the bullets that struck Brown were not fired from close range, as indicated by the absence of gunpowder residue on his body.

One of the bullets shattered his right eye, traveled through his face, exited his jaw and re-entered his collarbone, according to the autopsy.

The last two shots were likely the ones to his head, attorney Gray said. One entered the top of his Brown's skull, suggesting his head was bent forward when he was struck.

The independent autopsy was conducted by high-profile pathologist Michael Baden. Baden testified in the O.J. Simpson, Phil Spector and Drew Peterson murder trials.

Image via Washington Post