Last night a 6-year veteran of the Berkeley, Missouri Police Department; a suburb right next to Ferguson, Missouri drove to a Mobile gas station near the 6800 block of N. Hanley Road to conduct a routine check. The officer arrived at the scene, got out of his vehicle and started talking with those loitering in the parking lot. Readers can watch the events unfold on the surveillance video provided by the St. Louis County Police:

As you can see, one suspect pulled a gun on the officer. The officer, rightly fearing for his life, pulled his own weapon and fired three shots. One round fatally wounded the suspect, another hit the tire of the police vehicle, and a third has not been found. The second suspect fled the scene. According to St. Louis Today:

From the videotape released by St. Louis County Police and Belmar’s description, the officer was near the front driver’s side of the vehicle and the suspect was on the other side, near the car’s headlights, when the shooting occurred.

As the officer points his gun, he is backing away and loses his balance, Belmar said. As he fell, he dropped his flashlight and fired off at least three shots.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS units. Berkeley police called the county’s crimes against persons unit at 11:45 p.m., and they arrived at the scene at 12:15 a.m., Belmar said.

The body, which was covered and concealed from the crowd by a partition, was removed from the scene at 1:40 a.m., Belmar said.

He also said the 9 mm gun found on the suspect had five rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber. He also said the gun’s serial number had been filed off.