Interview with major Ferguson witness withheld from document dump

ST. LOUIS - A police interview with a key witness was not provided along with the thousands of documents released after a grand jury decided to not indict a Ferguson police officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

An Associated Press review of the records released by St. Louis County prosecutors confirms a report by KSDK-TV that a transcript of a two-hour police and FBI interview with Dorian Johnson, who was with Brown when he was shot, wasn't included.

Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch's spokesman said he couldn't explain the discrepancy. The documents did include a transcript of Johnson's grand jury testimony and statements to media.

McCullough took the unusual step of releasing information shown to the grand jury after jurors decided not to indict Ferguson officer Darren Wilson for shooting Brown, who was unarmed.

Johnson's version of events was almost directly counter to that of Wilson's. Johnson testified that Wilson provoked the Aug. 9 conflict, while Wilson said Brown initiated the skirmish.

Witness accounts contained in thousands of pages of grand jury documents reviewed by The Associated Press showed many variations about whether Brown's hands were actually raised - and if so, how high.

The exact circumstances surrounding Brown's death will forever be in dispute. Wilson, who is white, shot and killed Brown, who was black and unarmed, on Aug. 9. A the grand jury's decision set off renewed protests, some of which turned violent.

Wilson told the grand jury that he shot Brown in self-defense. But several witnesses said Brown had his hands up in surrender. Within hours, "Hands Up. Don't Shoot!" became the rallying cry for protesters.