Outrage, Unrest Erupt After Fatal Shooting of Missouri Teen by Police
We'll speak with Ferguson, Missouri, Mayor James Knowles on "New Day" at 8am ET.
----–
Confrontations between police and residents of a St. Louis suburb raged into the night after a fatal weekend shooting of a teen by an officer.
Crowds gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil for Michael Brown, whose shooting death sparked tensions in the Missouri town of Ferguson.
The peaceful gathering turned tense as protesters hurled bottles at officers and kicked police cars parked on the streets with blue lights flickering.
Young men knelt before stoic officers in riot gear, hands up in protest to symbolize surrender. Others looted stores and hauled out items such as clothes, tires and hair extensions.
"We will stay out here as long as you (police) are!" protesters yelled.
Witnesses said Brown,18, was unarmed and had his hands in the air when a Ferguson police officer shot and killed him Saturday.
But authorities said that was not the case.
"The genesis of this was a physical confrontation," said Jon Belmar, chief of the St. Louis County Police Department. The local police called in his department to conduct an independent investigation.
The Ferguson police officer tried to leave his vehicle just before the shooting, but Brown pushed him back into the car, "physically assaulted" him and struggled over his weapon, according to Belmar.
Brown was eventually shot about 35 feet away from the vehicle, the police chief said. He declined to provide more details, saying he didn't want to "prejudice" the case. Ferguson Police said its cars do not have dashboard cameras.
Shell casings collected at the scene were from the officer's weapon, Belmar said. A medical examiner will issue a ruling on how many times the teen was shot.
"It was more than just a couple," the police chief said.
But witnesses issued a different account. They said Brown did nothing to instigate the shooting and appeared to be surrendering when he was killed. Brown was spending the summer in the neighborhood with his grandmother, Desuirea Harris, she told KMOV.
"My son just turned 18 and graduated high school and he didn't bother nobody," his mother, Lesley McSpadden, told CNN affiliate KSDK.
Brown was supposed to start classes at Vatterott College on Monday, she said.
Antonio French, an alderman in nearby St. Louis, said the community is outraged.
"People have a lot of anger and are frustrated," he said. "They don't have recourse in the system, and it happens often in this country, and it has boiled over. I think people are angry and looking for a reason to let it out tonight."
See more on this developing story on CNN.com
Police: Toddler Smashes Jeep into House, Dashes Home to Watch Cartoons
A diaper-clad toddler crashed a Jeep Wrangler into a neighbor's house in Oregon - then scampered home, sat on the couch and watched cartoons, authorities said.
The 3-year-old boy was under his mother's watch in Myrtle Creek when the incident happened last week, Police Officer Kevin Taggart said.
She was not paying attention to him and he found the keys, got inside the car and knocked it out of gear, according to Taggart.
A witness called 911 after seeing the child rolling by in the Jeep before hitting the house. Sensing he was in trouble, the toddler jumped out of the car and dashed home.
"An officer went to the boy's home - and the boy was sitting on the couch watching cartoons like nothing ever happened," Taggart said.
Police cited the mother for failure to supervise the child following the incident Tuesday. The homeowner and the child's mother have made a civil arrangement on the repair to the house, authorities said.
"We want to encourage parents to remember that children are very crafty in finding ways to get in trouble and for parents to be very vigilant," Taggart said.
Before the accident, an officer saw the boy sitting in the car and warned a relative to keep an eye on him, authorities said.
At the time, when the officer knocked on door, a relative watching the child was sleeping.
Millions Threatened With Severe Weather After Deadly Sunday Storms
Forecasters on Monday warned millions of Americans to be prepared for another round of severe storms, including strong tornadoes, a day after storms killed 16 people in three states.
The storms Sunday in Oklahoma, Iowa and in Arkansas - where 14 of the 16 people died - were the opening act of a three-day weather spell expected to provide at least a slight risk of severe weather through Wednesday.
In the hardest-hit area, Faulkner County, Arkansas, Sunday's suspected tornado shattered homes, tossed tractor-trailers and killed 10 people, two of them children, authorities said. The most affected areas were in the towns of Vilonia and Mayflower.
"There were cars flipped everywhere, there were people screaming," James Bryant, a Mississippi State University meteorology student, told CNN's "New Day" on Monday. "It was a tough scene."
MORE on CNN.com
Earthquakes Leave Californians Shaken
A magnitude-5.1 earthquake struck the Los Angeles area Friday night, jolting nearby communities and breaking water mains in some neighborhoods.
Its epicenter was in Orange County, one mile east of La Habra and four miles north of Fullerton, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Shortly after the earthquake, nearly two dozen aftershocks followed.
A magnitude-4.1 shake rattled the area Saturday afternoon, centered about a mile and a quarter southeast of the Los Angeles County community of Rowland Heights, the geological agency said.
After the Friday night earthquake, authorities said police and local fire departments assessed affected areas and found no damage or significant injuries. One minor injury was reported in Orange County, emergency officials said.
"Tonight's earthquake is the second in two weeks, and reminds us to be prepared," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
An hour earlier, a magnitude-3.6 tremor struck the same area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quakes come on the heels of a magnitude-4.4 tremor that hit near downtown Los Angeles a week ago. It shook nearby buildings but did not cause significant damage.
Southern California has experienced relatively minor tremors since 1994 when a magnitude-6.7 quake killed dozens and caused $42 billion in damage. It now stands as the second-costliest disaster in U.S. history, after Hurricane Katrina.
Earthquakes with less than magnitude 5.5 don't usually cause significant damage or casualties, though results vary by region, geophysicist Paul Caruso said.
Damage often depends on construction codes and types of rock that exist underground, he said.
New Day Hosts
Weekend Hosts
