Darren Wilson Described Michael Brown as 'Crazy,' Intent on Killing Him, Ferguson, Missouri, police Officer Darren Wilson alleged that Michael Brown taunted him, telling him he was too cowardly to shoot him, before Wilson fired 12 rounds and killed the unarmed teenager, according to a transcript of Wilson's interview with detectives the day after the Aug. 9 shooting.
According to grand jury records released Monday night, Wilson was asked several times by two Ferguson police detectives on Sunday, Aug. 10, what he was thinking during the confrontation. Wilson replied:
"He's gonna kill me."
"How do I survive?"
"How do I live through this, basically?"
Later in the interview, Wilson said Brown was physically uncontrollable and "for lack of a better word, crazy. I've never seen that. I mean, it was very aggravated, aggressive, hostile. Just, you couldn't, you could, you could tell he was lookin' through ya."
Wilson's account to police closely matches what court records show he told the grand jury in four hours of testimony in September. Brown was so large and menacing, he testified, that "I felt like a five-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan," adding, "That's just how big he felt and how small I felt just from grasping his arm."
The question of whether Wilson believed he was at personal risk is central to any determination of whether the shooting was justified under state law. In announcing that a grand jury had declined to indict Wilson on any charges, St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch told reporters Monday night that while other witnesses disagreed, several testified that Brown did turn and advance on the officer.
"As tragic as this is, it was a not a crime," McCulloch said.
