Obama urges calm
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday appealed for calm after what he called the "heartbreaking" death of a black teenager killed in a police shooting in Missouri that sparked rioting.
Looters targeted more than a dozen businesses in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson overnight Sunday after a vigil on the sidewalk where Michael Brown died erupted into clashes with police armed with tear gas, clubs and rubber bullets.
Witnesses and police have given conflicting versions of how the 18-year-old was shot in broad daylight on Saturday, two days before he was due to start college.
"The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time," Obama said in a statement, his first public reaction to the incident, which has stirred racial tensions.
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