There has been a violent response to a decision by a grand jury in the US state of Missouri not to bring charges against a white policeman who shot dead a black teenager.

Several cars and buildings were set ablaze and shots fired in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson, where Michael Brown, 18, was killed by Darren Wilson in Ferguson on 9 August this year.

Protests started after the verdict was announced; Mr Brown’s mother burst into tears outside the police department and some in the crowd began throwing objects at a police line.

There have been reports of automatic gunfire, and demonstrators have torched cars and attacked buildings.

Bottles have also thrown as anger ripples through a crowd outside the Ferguson Police Department. Police responded with tear gas and smoke canisters.