--- description: Mansur Ball-Bey died on Wednesdsay title: Autopsy Shows Police Shot Black St. Louis Teen in the Back image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt916faa9ec24f504f/6988605d0b72e317f06e57c2/mansur-ball-bey-memorial.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Police Shot Black St. Louis Teen in the Back by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2015 12:57 PM CUT  Chris Ball-Bey, the brother of Mansur Ball-Bey, sits by his brother's memorial after a candlelight vigil on Walton Ave in St. Louis, Mo., on Aug. 20, 2015. Chris Ball-Bey, the brother of Mansur Ball-Bey, sits by his brother's memorial after a candlelight vigil on Walton Ave in St. Louis, Mo., on Aug. 20, 2015.Lawrence Bryant—Reuters by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2015 12:57 PM CUT Mansur Ball-Bey, the black 18-year-old killed by police in St. Louis, was [shot in the back](http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article%5F7b6d7427-b5b6-5625-b9f3-e5d7fbb33d17.html#.VdcFU2fpV7Y.twitter "undefined"), his autopsy has revealed. Ball-Bey was apparently found fleeing a home for which officers had a search warrant on Wednesday. The two cops, who are white, say that he pointed a gun at them, which prompted both of them to fire their weapons. Ball-Bey died from a single wound, according to the St. Louis _Post-Dispatch_. Police Chief Sam Dotson said the news does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing: “Just because he was shot in the back doesn’t mean he was running away,” he said. “It could be, and I’m not saying that it doesn’t mean that. I just don’t know yet.” Dotson said he would be taking statements from the two officers involved, and results of fingerprint and DNA testing on the gun allegedly in Ball-Bey’s possession are pending. The home that the police were investigating is owned by Ball-Bey’s relative, who says she doesn’t know why he was there. Police say weapons and drugs were discovered during the search in and around the home. Demonstrators protested the killing in St. Louis, less than two weeks after the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death in nearby Ferguson. \[[_St. Louis Post-Dispatch_](http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article%5F7b6d7427-b5b6-5625-b9f3-e5d7fbb33d17.html#.VdcFU2fpV7Y.twitter "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4006096/mansur-ball-bey-autopsy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4006096/mansur-ball-bey-autopsy/"},"headline":"Police Shot Black St. Louis Teen in the Back","datePublished":"2015-08-21T12:57:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:20:51.614Z","description":"Mansur Ball-Bey died on Wednesdsay","url":"https://time.com/4006096/mansur-ball-bey-autopsy/","keywords":["Crime","police","St Louis","black lives matter"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt916faa9ec24f504f/6988605d0b72e317f06e57c2/mansur-ball-bey-memorial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt916faa9ec24f504f/6988605d0b72e317f06e57c2/mansur-ball-bey-memorial.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mansur Ball-Bey memorial","caption":"Mansur Ball-Bey memorial","creditText":"Lawrence Bryant—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4006096/mansur-ball-bey-autopsy/","name":"Police Shot Black St. Louis Teen in the Back"}}]}] ```