Ferguson Shooting Cop Resigns From Police

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The white officer who shot dead unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has resigned from the police force.

Four months after the confrontation that fuelled violent protests in the St Louis suburb and across the US, Darren Wilson quit the Ferguson Police Department.

Mr Wilson has been on administrative leave since the shooting on 9 August.

His resignation was announced on Saturday by one of his lawyers, Neil Bruntrager, who said it takes effect immediately.

According to the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, Mr Wilson sent a resignation letter to the Ferguson force which read: "It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me.

"I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow.

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Gallery: Ferguson Protests Lead To Arrests Across US

Protests have been held across the US after a white officer was not charged for shooting unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri

Some of the most violent rallies were in San Francisco. Here a police officer on a motorcycle confronts protesters

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A demonstrator barracks police in San Francisco

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Demonstrators use a metal barricade to break a window in San Francisco

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Protesters face off with police in front of the Westfield Mall in San Francisco

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"It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal."

A grand jury spent more than three months reviewing evidence in the case before deciding not to issue any charges against the 28-year-old last week.

He had told jurors that he feared for his life when 18-year-old Mr Brown hit him and grabbed for his gun.

The US Justice Department is still conducting a civil rights investigation into the shooting and a separate probe of police department practices.

The shooting ignited a national debate about race and policing.

Mr Wilson spent months in hiding after the shooting, which he claimed was in self-defence.

He broke his silence after the grand jury decision, saying he could not have done anything differently in the encounter with Mr Brown.

Mr Wilson told ABC News he has a clean conscience because "I know I did my job right".

Mr Brown's shooting was the first time he fired his gun on the job, he said.

Asked whether the encounter would have unfolded the same way if Mr Brown had been white, Mr Wilson said "yes".

Mr Wilson began his career in nearby Jennings before moving to the Ferguson job a few years ago.

He had no previous complaints against him and a good career record, according to Police Chief Thomas Jackson, who described Mr Wilson as "an excellent police officer".

A few months before the shooting, Mr Wilson had received a commendation for detaining a suspect in a drugs case.

An American flag was burned during the most recent protests outside police headquarters in Ferguson on Saturday night, when two people were arrested.

Ten people were arrested at a Ferguson-inspired demonstration in Portland, Oregon, after a rally at which civil rights leader Rev Jesse Jackson spoke.

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