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Ferguson, Mo. police have finally identified the officer who shot and killed an unarmed African-American teenager. Today (Aug. 15), police chief Thomas Jackson revealed that it was officer Darren Wilson, a six-year veteran, who fatally wounded Mike Brown.

The New York Times reports that Wilson had been alerted of a nearby robbery when he came upon Brown.

Earlier, Chief Jackson said the authorities thought that it was an appropriate time to identify the officer.

“Nothing specific went into that decision, but we feel that there’s a certain calm,” he said. “There’s a huge outcry from the community.”

The initial refusal of Chief Jackson to reveal the officer’s name had galvanized demonstrators and prompted civil rights groups to go to court to force its release. Chief Jackson had said that his unwillingness to disclose the name had been based on safety concerns after death threats against the officer and his family were posted on social media.

Mind you, Wilson is a member of the same police force that met protesters dressed like they were going to war in Afghanistan, which makes it doubtful anyone would have been able to see those threats through.

The Ferguson Police Department released an incident report (see the following pages) of the aforementioned robbery that says Brown performed a strong arm robbery of cigarellos (Swisher Sweets).

The tone of the protests were more celebratory last night, after Missouri Governor Jay Nixon ordered the highway patrol and its captain Ronald S. Johnson to replace Ferguson police when dealing with demonstrators.

Photo: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

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