New witnesses to Ferguson shooting come forward

Newly discovered witnesses to the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Missouri teen Michael Brown are largely corroborating previous accounts, saying that after a police officer shot the unarmed teen once, the youth threw his hands up and pleaded with the officer to stop shooting.

Two construction workers who were nearby at the time have told investigators from the St. Louis County police and the FBI that they "starting hearing pops" and looked over to see Brown staggering and running. "And when he finally caught himself he threw his hands up and started screaming, 'OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK,'" one of the men told a St. Louis TV station. Neither man has been named by news outlets.

One of the workers told CNN that he heard one gunshot, then another shot about 30 seconds later. "The cop didn't say, 'Get on the ground.' He just kept shooting." The man said Brown "had his f----- hands up."

The man's co-worker, who is also unnamed, said that the officer, identified as Darren Wilson, "got about 8 to 10 feet away from him … I heard six, seven shots … it seemed like seven. Then he put his gun down. That's when Michael stumbled forward. I'd say about 25 feet or so and then fell right on his face."

The worker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Brown never ran full-speed at Wilson, as the officer's defenders have claimed. "I don't know if he was going after him or if he was falling down to die," he said. "It wasn't a bull rush."

Another witness, Phillip Walker, told the Post-Dispatch last week that Brown was walking at a steady pace toward Wilson, with his hands up. "Not quickly," Walker said. "He did not rush the officer."

"It wasn't justified because he didn't pose no threat to the officer. I don't understand why he didn't Tase him if he deemed him to be hostile. He didn't have no weapon on him. I was confused on why he was shooting his rounds off like that into this individual," Walker said.

A private autopsy showed that all but one of his gunshot wounds came while Brown was facing Wilson. Shawn Parcells, who participated in the autopsy, said one of the wounds to the arm could have occurred when Brown was facing away from Wilson. "It's inconclusive," he told the Post-Dispatch. St. Louis County and federal autopsy results have not been released.

The two workers were also captured on cellphone video near the scene. In the video, broadcast Thursday by CNN, one of the workers can be heard saying he heard one gunshot and another then saw Brown, 18, staggering and saying, "OK, OK, OK." with his hands up.

The comments from the workers differ from those made by St. Louis County Police Chief Joe Belmar, who said Brown physically assaulted Wilson and reached for Wilson's gun. Some witnesses also have said Brown assaulted the officer.

Brown's death sparked several nights of explosive protests in Ferguson and has prompted an investigation of the police department in the St. Louis suburb by the Justice Department. The case has pointed a national spotlight on Ferguson. It also is one of a handful of cases that erupted this summer involving African Americans being shot or beaten by the police, in most cases fatally.

In the cellphone video shown on CNN, one contractor puts his hands up as he is facing the scene, and says, "Man, he was going like this." The contractor appears to be talking to police.

Another person pulls up alongside the two contractors and is heard saying on the video, "He was no ... threat at all."

Contributing: Associated Press