Shortly after being given more time to weigh evidence in black teenager Michael Brown 's fatal shooting , a Missouri grand jury heard from the man at the center of it -- Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson -- a local newspaper reported . Wilson shot and killed the 19-year-old Brown in the middle of the day on August 9 , in the middle of a street in the St. Louis suburb . Authorities could have charged Wilson themselves by filing a criminal complaint , but St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch instead opted to present the case to a grand jury that could indict the officer , or not . On Wednesday , Wilson testified for almost four hours in front of the seven men and five women on that grand jury , according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch , citing a source with knowledge of the investigation . The same source cited by the paper claimed that the Ferguson police officer , who was put on paid administrative leave after the shooting , has been `` cooperative '' in his two conversations with St. Louis County investigators and one with federal investigators . In addition to the county 's case , the U.S. Justice Department has launched its own civil rights investigation into the shooting . Unlike many other aspects of the legal system , grand jury proceedings are closed to the public . Their mission is not to decide -- unanimously -- if there 's evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict someone on a charge , as is the case with a criminal jury . Rather in Missouri , nine grand jurors -- or three-fourths of the total -- have to agree there is sufficient probable cause to charge someone with a crime . How the grand jury works . The fact that grand jury proceedings are secret has irked Brown 's camp , many of whom accuse McCulloch of being too cozy with law enforcement . They question his commitment to pressing a case against Wilson , who is white , for the shooting of a young African-American man . The late teen 's supporters have demanded Wilson be charged , accusing him of shooting the unarmed Brown when his hands were up . Meanwhile , Wilson 's backers -- including a radio caller identifying herself as Josie , who recounted his purported version of events -- claimed that the officer only fired after the larger Brown struggled with , taunted and then ran at him . There was no guarantee that Wilson would get the chance to tell a grand jury his side of the story . The defense does n't present a case in these proceedings , which are run by prosecutors . `` Usually an accused will not be invited to testify , '' Neil Bruntrager , a criminal defense lawyer and general counsel for the St. Louis Police Officer Association , told CNN in August . `` But I would expect , in a case like this , that an invitation would be extended to him . '' Dueling narratives in Michael Brown shooting . So how will this all shake out ? What will the grand jury of nine whites and three African-Americans decide ? Will they indict Wilson , or will they clear him ? The public may not find out anytime soon . On August 20 -- when mobs of protesters were still regularly hitting the streets of Ferguson demanding Wilson 's arrest and , at times , clashing with law enforcement -- McCulloch told CNN affiliate KMOV that `` the aspirational time is by mid-October to have everything completed . '' And they could have more time , if they need it , than that . St. Louis County Judge Carolyn Whittington has extended the grand jury 's deadline until January 7 , Paul Fox , the county 's director of judicial administration , told CNN this week .
Pre - investigation : Ferguson police suspect Darren Wilson disappeared for almost four months . He shot and killed Michael Brown , an unarmed black man , in Ferguson on August 9 . No charges were filed against Wilson ; prosecutors instead took the case to a grand jury . A judge recently gave the grand jury until January 7 to decide if Wilson should be charged .