Following a week of racial unrest in the Ferguson, Mo., community, two juvenile suspects were arrested on Sunday for the death of a Bosnian man who was beaten with hammers on a St. Louis street, police said, adding that two other suspects were currently being searched in the ongoing investigation.
Zemir Begic, who had moved to St. Louis this year, suffered injuries to his head, abdomen, face and mouth after a group of juveniles beat him to death with hammers, the Associated Press reported. The victim was unconscious by the time authorities found him at approximately 1:15 a.m. ET, according to St. Louis Metro Police.
A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old male were located Sunday evening and taken into custody for being involved in the attack. But investigators are still working to determine a motive for the gruesome assault, said Leah Freeman, a spokeswoman for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Early Sunday morning, Begic had been traveling in his car when several young people approached on foot and began damaging his car, according to CNN. After he stepped out, they began to yell and assault him with hammers.
"Investigation revealed the victim was traveling in his vehicle when several juveniles approached his vehicle on foot and began damaging it," read an incident report.
"The victim exited his vehicle and the juveniles began yelling at the victim and striking him with hammers. After the assault, the juveniles fled the scene on foot."
Following the attack, the 32-year-old was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Later in the night, about 50 people briefly blocked an intersection to protest the killing of Begic. During the protest, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson spoke with residents and said that the attack did not appear to be motivated by race or the recent unrest surrounding a grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson cop Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, The Post-Dispatch reported.
On Saturday, Wilson's attorney announced the policeman's resignation from the Ferguson Police Department. The 28-year-old had been on administrative leave since the Aug. 9 shooting.
"I'm resigning of my own free will," Wilson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I'm not willing to let someone else get hurt because of 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."
