The Witnesses
October 6th 1st grand jury witness
A woman who lived in the neighborhood and who drove past Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson, along with her husband, on their way to their house, then watched from near her home. Apparently not represented in the interview witnesses.
Witness 10
Man working in the area, who walked past Brown and Johnson "close enough to shake their hands" while taking tools to a job site, the observed events from the door of a nearby apartment unit.
Witness 12
Man who lived in the neighborhood along with his fiancee, and who saw some of the events through a bedroom window and others after running outside.
Witness 14
Local woman who watched much of the action from her porch, and appeared to have a more complete view than many witnesses who watched from windows.
Witness 16
A local resident who was waiting for someone to pick him up to go to work, and who witnessed the initial action through a third floor window.
Witness 22
Girlfriend of witness 16, who brought events to her attention. Witnessed part of the action from third floor apartment. This witness may actually not have viewed anything before Brown's death.
Witness 25
Woman who lived in the complex, and whose attention was drawn by family. Witnessed events from her window.
Witness 30
Man in the passenger seat of a van driving toward the location of the shooting.
Witness 32
Local resident driving away from his apartment, who pulled up behind the police car. He was the driver of the car that Johnson stops beside, a detail that many witnesses repeated.
Witness 34
Local resident coming back to his apartment, was in a vehicle coming down the street in the opposite direction.
Witness 35
A young man who claimed that Michael Brown was his best friend, Dorian Johnson was his cousin, and that he was visited a relative in the area and witnessed events through a window. His details seem highly embellished.
Witness 37
A man who was living in an apartment in the area with his girlfriend, and who was on the way home and witnessed events from a vehicle further down the street.
Witness 38
Lived in one of the neighborhood apartments, but said he knew few people in the area. Witness events while taking out his trash.
Witness 40
Um... yeah. Witness 40 is a white guy who, in a hand-written journal entry, claims to have just happened to have taken a wrong turn and come on the scene of the action.
Witness 41
Local resident, who witnessed events from a second floor porch.
Witness 42
Local resident. On porch making a phone call when incident began.
Witness 43
Watched events through a window. He recounts enough odd statements – such as Wilson trying to use a taser – that it's clear he heard shots, but didn't actually see anything until Brown was dead. I've not summarized his statements because they seemed to have little value or reliability.
Witness 44
Local resident walking up the street when events occurred.
Witness 45
A woman visiting her cousin at the apartment complex. Was standing outside talking to a friend at the time of the incident.
Witness 46
A woman parked in a car somewhat back from the police car during the incident. She pulled over to let the police pass her because she was afraid they would notice she had an outstanding ticket, and observed events from a few car lengths down the street.
Witness 48
Was in a minivan just turning into the street where the action took place. Several car lengths away and seated in the second row of the minivan.
Witness 57
Was apparently interviewed some time after the others. Reported having seen the incident, but admitted to not seeing everything. Uploaded video of the scene to the Internet.
Witness 64
Was in a car down the street along with most of her family. Turned onto the street as action was already underway.
Darren Wilson
Note: I originally included Darren Wilson's testimony before the grand jury along with the other accounts. However, Wilson's testimony is long enough that it dwarfed the other witnesses. I'll deal with it separately.
Beginning
October 6th 1st grand jury witness
The police officer had stopped and said something to [Brown and Johnson]. ... he stopped and the kids, the children stopped. I don't know what he said, I didn't hear that ... They just were kind of standing there, and, like I said, it happened really fast, but the car was headed east, and then whatever conversation they had, the officer backed the car back [at an] angle... he kind of whipped the car in reverse so it was at an angle. ... and that's when we heard two gunshots inside the vehicle. ... The shots were like consecutive. It was like boom, boom. ... that's when [Brown] backed away from the car and started to run, and that's when the officer got out of the car to run after him.
Witness 10
When I first saw these two guys. And, my initial thought was, "wow, that's a big dude." Because Mr. Brown, Mike Brown, my initial thought was he's a big guy. He's tall and like stocky build and that's it. [Brown and Johnson] both walked passed me. I took my tools, went into I came back outside to get some more stuff and I looked down the street and I saw the police car at a slant and I seen Mr. Brown in the window of the police car. ... it appeared as they were wrestling through the window ... I saw Mr. Brown leaned over inside the police car ... probably below ... like under your armpit. That's how much of his body is inside the car. ... At that distance I couldn't tell. It looked like a confrontation and all I could assume was some type of confrontation was going on in the car. ... and one gunshot had let off. And, Mr. Brown took off running ... I'm in shock. ... I'm thinking that he just killed this police officer because he didn't get out of the car and follow foot pursuit as-as quickly as I would've thought that he would have. ... it took a while for the police officer to get out of the car and pursue the-the suspect. And, I wanna say maybe six seconds...
Witness 12
I was in the bedroom and I hear a altercation outside. ... I heard the shots first. (in later interview, says he heard no shots near the car) ... I happen to look out the window and see the young guy was at the Ferguson police car ... I saw some arms going through the window. It might have been Michael Brown's arm, he might have been punching the police officer or whatever. Something was going on through the window... [Brown] just ran down in the middle of the street and the officer just gets out the car.
Witness 14
I think the officer said something to him because Michael started walking towards the truck. ... I could only see from the passenger side. I don't know if [Wilson] had grabbed [Brown] or what but you could see them tussling in the car because they were moving around. ... I could see the top of his head and then he dropped down and he had disappeared for a minute. ... From my vantage point I could say clearly he was not inside that truck. He, partially maybe his head was right at the officer's head. ... I could see [Wilson] jerking around. ... I could see his torso I could see from maybe like the shoulders up and jostling around like they moving back and forth like this it was just like there some kind of tug of war or something ... The next time I saw [Brown's] head was when I heard the shot that's when he popped up. ... It was like a slight pause I say within two or three seconds [after Brown started running] [Wilson] was coming out. As Michael was running away ... Mike went one way [Johnson] went the opposite direction.
Witness 16
[heard tires screech] ... I heard three gunshots, boom-boom-boom ... I looked down and saw a police car ... I saw the police officer getting out of his car and running full speed. (moved to another window for a better view)
Witness 22
I was sleep and heard the first two shots. I'm thinking it's just the construction men that were outside and my boyfriend was looking out the window and he told me to come here, so I came to the window.
Witness 25
I run to my patio and look out the window. As I'm looking out my window, I see an African-American gentleman running away from a Caucasian officer and the Caucasian officer was walking behind him steadily opening fire shooting.
Witness 30
Well, first, we heard shots. I heard like three, maybe four shots. ... I looked up, saw the flashing lights of the squad car. And, I saw a large African American gentleman ... [it looked] to me like he had a gun. he was pointing a gun [at] the cop. ... we saw the squad car, saw the officer from behind, saw the gentleman on the other side of him, pointing in our direction. ... it certainly looked like [Brown] was pointing [a gun], and we definitely heard shots fired before he ever started running. ... About that time, he started to run ... I didn't see the officer until he was already out the car.
Witness 32
As the officer approached the two young I don't know what was said, you know between the two parties ... [the police SUV] stopped for a short period of time. The young men were still proceeding to walk in the middle of the street. ... [the SUV] stopped right beside them... the [police] truck was moving back and forth like it there was kind of a tussling ... I looked up under the truck. I saw the feet [of Brown] like moving and they were kind of tapping, like, it was like some kind of confrontation going on. ... I heard one gunshot ... The officer was still inside the truck. ... The young man was outside. ... [Brown] backed up. ... he looked surprised, I guess. ... He was.. like he was amazed or whatever ... then the young man and the other man proceeded to take off running. ... I saw the police offer get out of the [SUV] ... I saw him run.
Witness 34
The police truck was parked kind of so I couldn't get by so I stopped and I looked at him. This black male was, you know, like struggling. ... They were tussling and the police were sitting in the car and the black male was at the window ... [the struggle] went on for about two minutes I'd say. ... [Wilson] had a hold to Mike's shirt and Mike had a hold to his shirt ... it looked like Mike was throwing a couple blows while trying to get loose ... [Wilson] leaned over toward the passenger side ... [Brown] was standing outside the car window and [Wilson] was in the truck. ... So, I sit there and watch then all of the sudden I heard a [gunshot]. [Brown] took off running.
Witness 35
I heard the first gunshot. ... I hopped up and looked out the window and what I saw was Michael Brown drop to his knees and he had on a grey t-shirt and blood was rushing from either his shoulder or his rib cage, I know it was somewhere on the left portion of his body.
Witness 37
As I turned into Canfield, I actually see some confusion going on between the officer and Mr. Brown which stopped traffic. So I was ... wondering what was going on. I saw they had Mr. Brown from inside his vehicle by the neck and by his shirt. ... [Brown] is slanted over toward the vehicle. ... I see Mr. Brown struggling like to get back from [Wilson] choking him. ... Far as I know he was, pushing the officer's hands, trying to get loose. ... And, before I knew it, the officer who held on to Mr. Brown had pulled his firearm and shot Mr. Brown. That was the first shot. Mr. Brown got loose, that's when he runs approximately about, I say about ten, fifteen feet. ... The officer fired more shots from his vehicle. ... And by time [Wilson] gets out his vehicle, Mr. Brown takes off.
Witness 38
I saw the police talking to these two boys. Now, when I saw the two boys they were not in the middle of the street, they were kinda like, on the side of the street, and I saw the police talking to him, he said, I don?t know. I didn't hear. Then I saw him cut his car, his cruiser, in front of the guys. Then he kept on talking. (looked away) ... Then I heard a shot, or two shots, then I looked back. I didn't see anybody laying in the street, I figured maybe he fired a warning shot ... (looked away again, and went toward trash dumpster)
Witness 40
A noise caught my attention. This cop was backing up ... I couldn't hear, but it was the same kids I almost hit with my car. The cop tried getting out and the big one hit the door and the cop looked pissed and tried opening the door again. The big kid hit the door with his gut and the little one punched the mirror. ... the big one was half in the window ... I swear the little one had the cop's leg ... I heard a noise ... the big kid pulled his pants up, they were tan shorts, and started running ... the cop got our with his left hand on his face and his right hand on his gun. The cop screamed... everyone was screaming
Witness 41
I heard the first shot. ... I heard two shots. And that's when I ran down to the lot to see what was going on. (changes positions)
Witness 42
I heard a gunshot. ... I looked to see what was going on and saw a police officer running after a young man (indicates direction they were running) ...
Witness 43
(recounts screaming, Wilson firing a taser, and other events that are enough to show that he did not actually witness events)
Witness 44
The first thing I saw was the police car sitting out there and I saw the two boys. I don't know what he said to them but then I saw him back up in a slant. You know and hit them. ... they were on the street and he backed up like on a slant like this (demonstrates angle). And that's what caught my attention. ... Immediately [Johnson] took off and [Brown] started fighting with the officer through his window. I don't know why they were fighting through the window, but then I heard the first shot and all the cars on the street stopped. They started backing up. Then [Brown] started running.
Witness 45
[Brown] and [Johnson] were coming back (from the direction of the store) and they were walking in the middle of the street. ... the police had pulled past them ....I didn't hear what the police had said, but when they pulled off, immediately they pulled back. ... I saw the car come back in reverse. ... I saw was the police arm come out of the window, and grab [Brown] by his collar. The first shot went off. He tried to run, That's when the second shot went off. ... That's when the driver got out of the car
Witness 46
The police [vehicle] was behind me ... so I pull over to let him go ahead do what he was doing you know, and then I saw two young men walking the street, they were walking in the middle of the street and I saw the police when he told them to get onto the sidewalk. And the young man was talking to him and I saw the police ... I don't know what was said ... I thought it was just a friendly talk, I don't know. So next thing I saw the police reach his gun out the car .... By this time I start hearing gunshots, so I grabbed my wheel and I put my head down the wheel ... I saw the police trying to get out the car (clear that she ducks down and misses some critical moments)
Witness 48
The police car was turned ... like it was trying to turn into the parking lot on Canfield ... but stopped. ... [Brown] was pretty close to ... the driver's side ... and then ... he took off running after the first two shots. ... the police officer got out of the cruiser on the driver side.
Witness 57
First I heard the shot. I heard one shot. ... I looked out, and that's when I saw a, a tussle, at the car. ... I seen a guy push off the car,... the officer had his shirt like this (mimes clutching a shirt around chest level to show what Wilson was doing to Brown) ... [Brown's] shirt being like this inside the car ... the officer's grabbing him, trying to pull him in the car ... I saw, Mike Brown, push off the car ... I saw, [Brown] running down the street, and I saw an officer chasing after him.
Witness 64
We pulled up at a stop sign and we heard two shots ... pow-pow ... and while we were trying to figure out whether they were gun shots or firecrackers we saw [Brown]. I saw him take off running and I saw the cop following him ...
Middle
October 6th 1st grand jury witness
[Michael Brown] kind of ran over this way... and then he kind of got into the grassy area and he kind of stopped and looked down at his hands. ... I'm assuming there was blood, but he looked down at his hands and then he turned back around, he turned back around and started going back towards the police officer. [Brown] wasn't running, he just, to me it was slow motion, so he turned around, looked down at his hands. ... by that time [the officer] is kind of, I guess, chasing the victim. ... he was running with his a gun drawn. (Wilson stops approximately 20' from Brown, as determined by estimates made in court) ... I'm going to say he fired maybe three to four shots as they were, I guess, walking kind of towards each other.
Federal Witness 16
And at this time Michael was running down the street and Darren is chasing him. ... At that point, I turn, go to the next window, because you can't really see after, from that window anymore. ... And at this time, I heard another shot fired while they were running.
Witness 10
The police officer exited the vehicle with his weapon drawn pursuing Mr. Brown. ... [Brown is] running in the middle of the street at like, at a slant and the it will be the first driveway on the left from the squad car that he was-he was turned, about to make a turn like he was gonna go into the driveway. Actually, he did turn into that first driveway and then he stopped and came back towards–by this time the police officer was out of his car with the gun drawn and afterwards he stopped and came towards the police officer. ... At that point [Wilson] has his gun drawn at a raised point. When he felt he came into a line, close enough distance with him, it appeared that when he did raise his gun that he's verbally, telling this guy giving him a command and at that point, that's when I seen Mr. Brown turn and he like did something I don't know if was to pull his pants up. It was some type of motion that took place with Mr. Brown's body gesture and after that, he began to run towards the police officer. ... I never seen him put his hands up or anything. I can't recall the movement that he did. I'm not sure if he pulled his pants up or whatever he did but I saw some type of movement and he started charging towards the police officer.
Witness 12
Michael Brown is already probably, like, 25 [feet] down the road. [Wilson] hopped out after [Brown] ran from his window ... and shoots. I thought it was six times. ... the officer is basically ... walking towards the back [of the car] as he's shooting ... I guess [Brown] did get hit because he turned around ... he kind of stopped and turned around facing the officer, he bent down a little bit curled up ... like he's been hit in the stomach, like he's about to fall
Witness 14
Michael ran toward the first driveway which is located were the memorial is on the post. The officer got out the truck came around to the back of the assumed his position like this (takes shooting position with gun in both hands) ... By the time [Brown] got to the edge of the driveway after he crossed the sidewalk he got on the back part of the driveway he stopped. Michael stopped. He was looking at himself to see where he was hit. He was doing this [looking at himself], but he had stopped. The officer at that time really had come around to the back when Michael had his back turned to him. [Wilson] told [Brown] "stop," but he had already stopped. Michael turned around to face him and he had his hands shoulder high just a little bit about his shoulders but they were out away from his body.
Witness 16
I looked outside. I saw [Brown] turn around and put his hands into the air. ... I heard several more [gunshots]. I can't put a number on it. It was several of them ... it just sounded like chaos. (moved again)
Witness 22
(not in position)
Witness 25
(did not witness Brown stop)
Witness 30
That's when the officer shot him in the leg. And it certainly looked like a leg shot to me, the way he (chuckles) ... spun around. ... he flung [his hands] out as he was running away and got [shot] ... and staggered around. ... And right after he was hit, he turned around and he started back toward the police officer. ... I've heard lots of people talking about how he had his hands up. He did not have his hands up.
Witness 32
(temporarily distracted as Johnson attempts to get in his car) I looked up ... I'm looking up in my rearview mirror, that's when see [Brown] ... he already ran past and then a police officer ran past. ... I saw the young man turn, he was facing the police officer.
Witness 34
[Brown] ran down the street ... I thought he maybe got hit because he ... didn't run that far. He ran maybe two or three car lengths and there was a brown car sitting there. He put his hand on the back of the brown car. Then the officer got out the truck he was kinda like chasing behind, but the officer wasn't running that fast ... like he was shaken up or something and all of sudden the young man turned around and started coming back towards the officer.
Witness 35
I heard the first gunshot ... I went to the window an I saw my friend had blood rushing from his shoulder or his right rib or his left rib. ... he had a grey t-shirt on, there's no way of covering that up. I saw it. ... I saw him running.
Witness 37
[Wilson] kinda gave him a chase and that's where I see Mr. Brown slow up and throw his hands up. ... He slows right up. ... [Wilson] steps out, he gives him a little pursuit. It was like kinda lazy like he made no effort to actually catch up with him. He gave him a little pursuit. He slowed up. He stopped.
Witness 38
(did not witness Brown running or Wilson's pursuit)
Witness 40
The cop was wobbling ... the big kid turned around and had his arms out with attitude. The cop just stood there. Dang if that kid didn't start running at the cop like a football player, head down.
Witness 41
(did not witness Brown running or Wilson's pursuit)
Witness 42
[Wilson] shot again, shot the individual in the back ... I see the officer chasing after the individual and he hit him "pow" one time ... I don't know what part of the back he shot but [Brown] turned around ... Mr. Brown turned and literally put up his arms, in a fashion that means surrender. ... the individual realized he was shot he turns around and immediately
put his arms up.
Witness 44
[Brown] stopped halfway and turned around and that?s when you heard the rest of the shots.
Witness 45
[Brown] stopped and with his arms up, [his arms] never went down to portray that he had a weapon or anything. ... I was right there by the dumpster ... this is where he ran and he stopped. ... And that's where he turned around, and he started going back towards the police to defend himself, like to give up. ... he turned back around with his hands up, to go back towards the police.
Witness 46
(lowered her head after first gunshots, and apparently didn't see much of the chase or Brown stop and turn) I seen the one little boy [Brown] trying to run, or walk real fast.
Witness 48
[Wilson] got out of his cruiser and chased him. ... [Brown] turned around. And the police officer stopped. Stopped running and the dude started running back towards the officer. ...
He was just running like this. (raises his hands over his chest, with hands clenched). ... [Brown put his hands up] for a few seconds and then put his arms down and he kind of put them close to his chest and he started running.
Witness 57
(as Brown and Wilson run, the witness loses sight of them behind a concrete barrier)
Witness 64
I saw the cop following [Brown] ... the officer had the pistol in hand and was chasing him and fired a couple of shots at him while he was running ... I saw [Brown] turn around like he had given up or something, you know. But he was still moving, he was like coming back at the officer and the officer just kept shooting at him. (indicates by motion that Brown may have been hit in the hip or leg)
End
October 6th 1st grand jury witness
[Brown] was walking back towards him and [Wilson] started, he started shooting. He just kept shooting, he just kept shooting ... He shot like maybe three or four times, and [Brown] stopped. And then [Wilson] just started shooting again. ... I asked my husband, well, maybe he doesn't have real bullets, maybe they are rubber bullets, he's not stopping, why doesn't he stop shooting. ... [Brown] didn't have his hands up fist ball or anything of that nature. I think he was stunned, honestly. He just turned around and he just, like I said, he turned around and he looked at his hand and he turned around ... he just kept walking toward the officer, he didn't stop ... it was probably maybe ten steps. ... I guess you could say that [he was surrendering] I assumed that that's what he was doing, but I couldn't hear words being, between the two people because I don't recall them saying anything, I don't recall. ... [Wilson] was standing still. ... I'm going to say [Wilson shoots] three [more] times and then that's when [Brown] collapsed ... [Brown] had stopped, I mean, he was kind of standing there and [Wilson] just started boom, boom, boom, boom, and he just fell. ... He fell facedown. He just kind of toppled over. He went straight down.... like a domino.[Wilson] just kind of stopped and kind of froze and just looked. ... He didn't touch him.
Federal Witness 16
After that, he then turn, had his hands in the air, by the time that I saw him have his hands in the air, he got shot I heard two shots like specifically in my head I saw those two shots. And he dropped down like kinda drop hands first, then knee, then face and everything else. So that's why I did not see him move towards the police at any time. ... the two shots that I remember as he was falling was like two shots hit him and then it was just-it just went down. So if he did have it up, there was no way I
saw that because I just saw it when he went down.
Witness 10
I wanna say [Brown was] 15 yards [away from Wilson], he was away and he may have gotten 5 yards before the police officer fired his first shot. ... The police officer then returned fire, well, not returned fire, open fire on Mr. Brown. If I had to guess the shots and the distance between him and Mr. Brown, it would have to be five to ten yards and the shots that were fired was four, five to six shots fired and Mr. Brown was still standing up. ... I'm seeing [Brown] coming at a aggressive speed and just in a charge mode towards the police officer. ... It's a full out I'm charge, full-blown ... and my thoughts was why is [Wilson] missing this guy this close ... because Mr. Brown there was no reaction from him to show that he was been hit. After that, Mr. Brown then paused. He stopped running and when he stopped running the police officer stopped firing. And, then Mr. Brown continued, started again to charge towards him and after that the police officer returned fire and well not returned ... started to fire once more at him. ... the rounds that were fired then it would be four to five more shots and after that Mr. Brown collapsed and fell to the ground.
Witness 12
[Brown] turned around back towards facing the cop kind of walking back towards him slow and curled up ... I see him take like one or two steps ... and the officer let out, what three maybe four more shots to the guy and that's when he hit the ground.
Witness 14
Michael took a step off the sidewalk. As soon as his foot hit the street the officer let loose wham, wham, wham. ... [Brown's] hands were not steady like this, but he had 'em up to look look and see what was up. ... he took a step to the street ... it looked like he was, you know, he was giving up. Because that's what we was saying. ... [He was holding his hands like] palms were facing the officer ... We were, "there, he's giving up, he's giving up." ... We are looking at [Brown]. He is giving up, but then as soon as he stepped on that street he got his foot in the street, [Wilson] fired three shots. ... After he fired that ... first volley he hit him [Brown] started staggering. He first kind of went back like pow from the impact. ... He stepped back and then he started staggering and he was looking at the officer and as he brought his head up he looked down like "Oh God, I've been shot." He looked up to the officer and he was looking at him, and he was staggering like he was trying to stay on his feet. Myself and my family was telling him "Stop, dude, stop-stop-stop," hoping that he would hear us, but he was staggering and we could see that he was staggering. He took about, I don't know, three or four more steps, but as he was taking his steps forward at that time the officer took a few steps back. ... [Brown] was standing up when he was shot he was leaning like this, but his head was like this ... you could tell he was about ready to fall because at the angle of his body was practically straight, knees wobbly, but the torso was like I wanna say a 45 degree angle. His hands had slowly been coming down ... [Brown] was trying to stand up he was trying to maintain his self, but you could see his body was trying to give out on him ... we were yelling at him, "Man, stop-stop-stop!" ... my sister in-law said, she said "Oh God, he is getting ready to kill him. He is getting ready to kill him." ... [Brown] was not charging [Wilson]. He was defenseless, hands up. He was trying to stay on his feet and you could see that his knees were beginning to buckle and he was going down. ... And then, no sooner she said that, no sooner than those words came out of her mouth, [Brown] was going down it looks like he was going down and [Wilson] let off four more shots wham, wham, wham, wham. ... he hit face first. Splat.
Witness 16
(Brown was already down when he reached his next location and began collecting video with his phone)
Witness 22
I saw the young man grabbing his, either his stomach or his side and had he put his hands up and then the man just kept [firing] ... [I heard] three more shots ... and then that was it.
Witness 25
The next thing I know, I see the African-American guy walking back down facing the Caucasian officer. (moves to patio) I see the Caucasian officer steadily opening fire, aiming at the African-American guy's chest area. ... I figured that they had tazed him and he just was resisting. He wasn't going down ... [Wilson] shot [Brown] two more times and that's when the guy tipped over. The officer walked up, shot him three more times and the dude just tipped over head first and his head smashed into the pavement.
Witness 30
He walked back toward the officer. ... His hands were down at his sides. And within maybe six or ten feet from the officer, and cop shot him. He appeared to be walking. ... but was not hands up ... You couldn't really see his hands. ... what I saw was the officer gunned down somebody who had apparently been in a firefight with him. I was relieved that it was over, and that there weren't going to be any stray bullets hitting bystanders. ... I could hear people yelling. Typical women ... Oh God, I'm in the from north side. I've been listening to these ghetto-ass... there's always somebody screaming at the cops.
Witness 32
I heard just three more gunshots. I don't know if it was two or -- dot, dot, dot -- and then saw the young man just hit the ground.
Witness 34
Then the officer shot him a couple times then that's when I turned around ... right there in front of the officer truck and I burn out. (witness turns his car and leaves the scene)
Witness 35
I seen my best friend in the middle of the street with his hands in the air and he said, "please don't shoot me. The officer got out of his car and shot him. ... [Wilson] was no more than five feet from him.
Witness 37
[Brown's] hands were in the air ... clear air (demonstrates raised hands, but not elbows locked straight up). And the officer, like, patiently walked towards Mr. Brown, and that's when I saw another like two, three shots fired at point blank range (demonstrates a range of only a few feet). ... I can see [Brown] like, mouth [move] like he was talking to him ... That's when see Mr. Brown ... [mimes leaning forward] ... the officer moves back maybe two feet ... And that's when [Wilson] shoots his firearm again. I say probably about another two, three shots. And that's when I saw Mr. Brown lean over, hit his head, right on the concrete.
Witness 38
I heard boom, boom, boom, boom, six, seven shots. (runs and hides behind a car. Saw no more of the confrontation.)
Witness 40
I heard three bangs but the big kid wouldn't stop. I hard the cop say something but couldn't tell what or if he was just making noise. Cop took a couple of steps forward then backward and the gun went off two more times. The last one was on top of the kid's head. OMG the blood.
Witness 41
The officer got out of his truck, SUV rather and that?s when he stood over the boy and just emptied his clip. (voices concern that the shots were so rapid, that Wilson might have been carrying an automatic weapon) Michael was on his knees with his hands up. ... he was saying something, Michael was to the police officer. ... [Wilson's] just shooting-shooting-shooting right there and the bullet hit him right here (demonstrates location of shots). And, that's when he was going down and the police stand there and shot him again in his head. ... that was the last bullet that went off was in his head.
Witness 42
[Brown] steps closer to [Wilson], surrendering himself, his arms up already. ... He didn't know to get down. He didn't know to get down. So walked up on him. ... he was walking to the officer with his hands up. ... [Wilson] continued to fire every round, I mean every round, the visual is so clear. He let every round in his chest off ... from about twenty feet ... and as he got closer, he let a round off in his head, his cheek, his head and he finished a round and stood over him. ... [the last shot to the head] was close, he was so close. The visual was gruesome.
Witness 45
[Brown] goes to the pole. He turns around, and he's walking back. ... And when he turned back around the police shot again. And it just and like the shots just started ringing. ... fourth, fifth, sixth shot. ... And [Brown] fell. Police got down, checked him, got up and walked away. ... There was two [police officers] in the car. (this witness appears to believe that there were always two police officers in the car, but that only one got out until after the shooting, apparently mistaking the officer who arrived shortly after the shooting as Wilson's partner)
Witness 46
When [Wilson] got out the car, he stood over the boy and he started shooting some more.
After the shooting stopped I set up there and I looked and I started screaming and asked the policeman. I said can I check the boy? He told me to "get the fuck on." ... l jumped in my car and I pulled off and I started hollering.
Witness 48
[Wilson shot] only when [Brown] was charging at him. ... (reports three or four shots, then a pause) ... then two or three more. ... [Wilson] said stop three times. ... when [Brown] was running towards him. ...
Witness 57
(hears additional shots, but can't see action. Produces a camera phone and comes out afterwards to collect video.)
Witness 64
(indicates that Brown was holding his hands about shoulder height) not high, but like he had quit. ... he may have been running, he may have been stumbling ... He dropped his hands as he started coming back toward the officer (indicates that Brown was holding his chest) ... [Wilson] just unleashed ... what sounded like continuous series of shots ... I don't know whether [Brown] was trying to charge the officer or whether he was stumbling because he fell not too long afterwards. He hit the ground.
Witness reliability
Witness 10
Inaccurately describes cars, positions of players, and provides apparently invented comments by Johnson at the end of the event. Also initially reports that he is working with others, then claims to be working alone. Details of his narrative change under questioning enough to make his testimony questionable.
Witness 12
Initially indicates that he didn't see the start of the encounter, then later claims that he saw the whole. However, aside from this point, his details and comments jibe with both other witnesses and with known facts.
Witness 14
Provides one of the most complete accounts, and also matches many–though not all–of the known facts in vehicle position, movements, and clothing. In general appears to be one of the better witnesses. 14's account of Brown's action seems to account for the behaviors observed by other witnesses without requiring Brown to be either superhuman or self-destructive.
Witness 16
Provides conflicting information in comments. It seems clear that he missed several critical pieces of action moving to get a view, and may have actually only heard shots and seen Brown's body.
Witness 22
Provides an account vague enough to have little value, and possibly only restates other accounts.
Witness 25
Provides a simple account that may be somewhat homogenized from discussions with her family.
Witness 30
Brown wearing: T-shirt, jeans. No mention of hat or socks. Reported that Brown pointed a gun. Reported that Brown was hit in the leg. Seemed convinced that Brown was armed and that he may have dropped or thrown away a gun. In general, this seems to be an unreliable witness who was more concerned with his personal safety than with what was happening,
Witness 34
Accurately describes Brown's clothing. Probably most detailed account of events at the police SUV, but leaves before the fatal shot.
Witness 35
Starts off by claiming to be both Michael Brown's best friend and Dorian Johnson's cousin. Has a completely different version of events from any other witness. His narrative seems mostly, if not wholly, invented and includes embellishments such as proclamations from the dying Brown.
Witness 40
Err, no. Just no. His journal entry starts the day saying "I'm going to take a random drive to Florissant. Need to understand the black race better so I stop calling blacks niggers..." the coincidence of his just happening to make the wrong turn at the right time. His description of a street crowded with people who don't appear in other descriptions. His description of details like Johnson grabbing Wilson's leg or punching part of the mirror off the police vehicle, the instant vagueness about everything ten seconds after the incident... everything about this screams not just fake, but Fake With Purpose. This is a completely invented narrative, and should never have been heard by the grand jury.
Witness 41
First interview ends in an argument with the FBI as they tell him they're "not buying" his story, focusing on the idea that Brown was not on his knees, and the witness angrily attempts to erase their recording. In a second interview, the witness repeats most of what he said the first time, adding that he heard the gun click after Wilson emptied the clip.
Witness 42
Accurately recounted several details of Brown's clothing, including noting that the flip-flops were flung off in the street. In comments, he said that Brown's motion toward Wilson "probably scared the shit" out of Wilson, though Brown was walking slowly, and that Wilson's actions "were not protocol." Like several witnesses, he was shaken by the number and speed of shots.
Witness 45
Notes Brown wearing tan shorts, gray T-shirt and correctly notes color of Monte Carlo, but mistakenly believes that there were two officers in the car, with the second only emerging after the shooting. Her position was near the location where Brown stopped and turned.
Witness 46
Is fuzzy on several descriptions and on the order of events. Her position was 3-4 car lengths behind the police car, and it appears that she ducked after the initial gunshots and missed large parts of the action. She also mistakes fired while Brown was falling for shots fired after he was on the ground and is the witness who said that Wilson shot Brown repeatedly after he had fallen.
Witness 48
Correctly describes Brown's clothing, but doesn't accurately describe Johnson's. Otherwise his details are vague. He was positioned in the center of the second row of a minivan, and may have had a somewhat restricted view.
Witness 57
Describes early action and doesn't try to pretend to knowledge of what happens in areas outside his site. His description of coming out to find Wilson looking down at Brown's body turns out to be accurate, and he collects footage of the area after shooting.
Witness 64
Has some big problems with the framing of the action, including not being able to remember that the police vehicle was an SUV, or which direction it was facing. However, portions of her description seem like a fair match to others–though she also make a claim to details (such as seeing Brown's clothing react to shots) that it's very unlikely she could have seen.
Synthesis
I'm throwing out some of the witnesses right off the bat. 40 (the convenient visiting racist), 35 (who has Brown kneeling and crying out), 10 (who provides additional activities for Johnson and keeps saying Wilson "returned fire"), and 46 (who seems to have spent most of the time either hiding or in justifiable hysterics). From what's left, there are parts of the narrative that are still necessarily fuzzy, but the overall shape seems fairly well defined.
Beginning
Brown and Johnson are walking down the middle of the road when Wilson approaches. He pulls past them, exchanges a few words, then abruptly backs up his SUV–fast enough to generate a screech that draws the attention of several witnesses. Wilson and Brown exchange more words. Wilson reaches out and grabs Brown by the shirt, tugging him toward the SUV. Brown reacts by both punching toward Wilson and pushing against the vehicle. Wilson leans to his right, pulls his gun, and fires a first shot from inside the SUV, with the bullet striking Brown in the hand. Wilson fires a second shot out the window of the SUV, missing. Brown breaks away, and both Brown and Johnson run. A few seconds after Brown leaves the SUV, Wilson follows.
Middle
Brown runs about 50 yards, while Wilson moves more slowly, traveling under half that distance. Brown reaches an area near a drive, and stumbles to a halt. Suddenly, he seems to realize that he's been shot. He raises his hands, looking at the blood. Shaken, he turns back toward Wilson. By this point, Wilson has advanced a few more yards. He stops and takes up a position with his gun in both hands.
End
Brown flings his hands up toward his face. Whether he actually intends to surrender or is simply shocked at his injury isn't clear. He take a few steps, probably no more than three or four, back toward Wilson, lowering his hands as he goes. Wilson fires a barrage of shots. Brown halts. He is injured, and his knees are folding. Wilson shouts at Brown to stop. In both shock and pain, Brown leans forward. He raises his hands toward his chest, probably toward a wound. His knees are buckling. He is stooped over enough that some people see him as "curled up" and one witness thinks he is on his knees. Struggling to not fall, he staggers on. Wilson begins to fire again. Brown topples, falling toward Wilson as final shots rake across him.
The actual witness statements don't seem to support either a stationary Brown who holds his arms stiffly upright while Wilson approaches and shoots him down. Neither do they support a charging monster, snarling for revenge. Instead they show an 18 year-old, shocked to see his own blood, stumbling on in confusion and an officer who mistakes his thousand-yard-stare and uncertain advance for aggression.
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