Berkeley Police Chief Frank McCall Said Antonio Martin’s Gun Still Had The Safety On

Following the death of Berkeley, Missouri, teenager Antonio Martin, Police Chief Frank McCall confirmed that while the teenager had pointed his gun at a police officer, the gun’s safety was still on.

According to the Associated Press, Frank McCall confirmed that the teen had pointed his weapon at the unidentified police officer after shoplifting a nearby convenience store in Berkeley, Missouri. The St. Louis suburb is located about five miles away from Ferguson, where an unarmed Michael Brown was shot by Officer Darren Wilson.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the death of Martin has sparked protests in Missouri once again. The most recent report states that some protestors shut down Interstate 170, while some attempted to rob a beauty store.

But Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins said there should be no comparison to the Michael Brown case. Witnesses say that the Berkeley teen in this case pointed his weapon at the police officer, and there is video evidence to prove it, too.

“We say ‘black lives matter;’ this was not the case. You can’t even compare this with Ferguson or the Garner case in New York … We have the video and I can assure you that what’s on the video is what we’re going to use.”

And it is that reason why Hoskins thinks the people of Berkeley should not be protesting about Martin’s death.

“There is no reason for the protesters to continue in the city of Berkeley unless they will not accept the fact that Mr. Martin drew his gun first.”

Frank McCall mentioned that he examined the Berkeley teen’s gun following his death. During the examination, the police chief said he noticed that the safety was still on.

“If the safety had been released off the weapon, there’s a possibility that we might be talking about more than one death.”

But the Wall Street Journal reports that Frank McCall also noted that the Berkeley teen did try to fire his gun at the police officer before he was shot to death.

“Mr. Martin was armed. Mr. Martin did attempt to fire. The weapon did not fire because the safety was on.”

The unidentified police officer was issued a body camera, but he did not wear it during the Martin confrontation. Berkeley officials mentioned that while body cameras are made available at the local police department, there are only three for the 31 employed officers, as they are still in the testing phase. The police officer is currently on administrative leave.

[Images via Twitter]