ST. LOUIS — One St. Louis-area police officer resigned and another retired in the continued fallout from questionable police actions in the days after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.
The moves bring to three the number of police officers whose conduct was called into question after the August 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an African-American teen shot multiple times by a white police officer.
The three officers are: Lt. Ray Albers, who threatened and pointed an assault rifle at protesters; Dan Page, an officer caught on camera pushing a CNN correspondent before a video surfaced of him ranting about the Supreme Court and Muslims; and Matthew Pappert, an officer fired after making what his chief called “very … inappropriate” Facebook comments about the protests in Ferguson.
Albers, a 20-year veteran of the St. Ann, Missouri, police department, resigned Thursday, according to City Administrator Matt Conley.
Albers stepped down after the city’s board of police commissioners recommended to the board of aldermen that he be fired or resign, St. Ann Police Chief Aaron Jimenez told CNN on Saturday.
Albers was the officer who pointed a semiautomatic rifle at a Ferguson protester and threatened to kill him on August 19 — a tense moment caught on video and posted online.
In the video, Albers can be seen walking around with his assault rifle raised, then pointing it in the direction of protesters.
Protesters mocked the officer before was led away by another member of law enforcement.
A CNN crew also saw the officer point his weapon at those around him as he cursed, shouted and threatened people by saying he’d kill them unless they stayed away.
Page, an officer with the St. Louis County Police Department, retired effective August 25, according to St. Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman.
Page was caught on camera pushing CNN’s Don Lemon. He was placed on administrative leave after a video surfaced of him ranting about the Supreme Court and Muslims, among other things.
This week, officials in the city of Glendale, Missouri, confirmed that Pappert was fired after making what his chief called “very … inappropriate” Facebook comments, according to a city official.
“These protesters should be put down like a rabid dog the first night,” Pappert wrote in one post, according to CNN affiliate KMOV. There were reportedly five inappropriate posts, KMOV said.
Pappert, a six-year veteran of the Glendale force, was originally suspended on August 22 after the comments came to light. An inquiry was initiated that day.
Glendale, like Ferguson, is a municipality in St. Louis County. The two suburbs are about 15 miles apart.
A week ago, Glendale Police Chief Jeffrey Beaton suspended Pappert and cited what he called the “inappropriate posts on his personal Facebook page,” according to the Webster-Kirkwood Times, an online news outlet in the area.
Police in the area have come under fire for their heavy-handed response to the Ferguson protests following Brown’s death.
An attorney for Pappert said his client was sorry for his online comments.