Bodycam footage contradicts police account of St. Louis officer fatally shooting fleeing teen

Body camera footage released Monday shows a St. Louis police officer shooting 17-year-old Emeshyon Wilkins in the back of the head as the teen ran away, directly contradicting an earlier police statement that Wilkins had pointed a gun at officers. The video, obtained through discovery in a federal lawsuit, has forced the department to admit its initial public account of the June 2024 shooting was wrong.

The St. Louis Police Department now acknowledges that “information provided by a third-party to investigators in the immediate aftermath of the incident was not consistent with the actual events or what was initially shared with the community.” That bureaucratic phrasing amounts to a concession: what the public was told about how Emeshyon Wilkins died was false.

The question now is whether anyone will be held accountable, for the shooting itself, and for the misleading narrative that followed it. More than a year later, neither has produced a criminal charge.

What the bodycam video shows

The shooting took place on June 18, 2024, just two weeks after Wilkins turned 17. Detectives attempted to stop an SUV reported stolen. A brief pursuit followed. Family attorney Al Watkins told The Associated Press the chase was slow-speed, with the SUV traveling only about 10 miles per hour.

When the vehicle stopped, Wilkins fled on foot. Two officers gave chase, one holding a Taser, the other a firearm. The federal lawsuit filed against the police department states that an officer yelled commands and then fired. One of four bullets struck Wilkins in the back of the head, killing him.

The video did not show Wilkins holding a firearm in his hand or pointing it at the officer. A gun was found in his pocket, but the lawsuit states it was disassembled, in multiple pieces, and incapable of being fired.