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Police are asking for help identifying more than 180 people who were caught on surveillance video looting a Missouri convenience store after a Ferguson grand jury failed to indict a police officer for fatally shooting teenager Michael Brown in November.
St. Louis County Police on Wednesday released five minutes of surveillance footage showing people streaming into a market in Dellwood, a town bordering Ferguson, on Nov. 24 after authorities announced that Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson wasn’t indicted for killing Brown, 18, who was unarmed.
The footage shows prowlers removing a security gate on the entrance, then breaking through the locked door of the Dellwood Market. The display cases and stocked shelves are quickly ransacked as people rush inside and flee with goods in their arms. Still photos taken from the security footage offer a look at the faces of some of the people inside the store.
St. Louis County Police said they were overwhelmed by spontaneous protests, arsons and reported shootings that night and had little choice but to ignore burglaries at the time. By using video, police are now trying to solve some of those crimes.
“From a department standpoint, there were more important calls than the burglary calls. Unfortunately, we couldn’t have an effective response to those crimes being committed,” Officer Shawn McGuire, a department spokesman, told The Huffington Post. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime situation here.”
