Protester in iconic Ferguson demonstration photo found dead

Published May 23, 2017

This iconic photo showed Edward Crawford returning a tear gas canister fired by police trying to disperse protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, April 20, 2015. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

A man who was captured in an iconic photo throwing a tear gas canister at police in a 2014 Ferguson protest was found dead Friday, according to a report.

Edward Crawford's father confirmed the death to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Police did not release the name of the victim, but said a person died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a car on Salisbury Street, located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of St. Louis. Two women were in the car at the time.

Crawford's father told the newspaper he believed the shooting was an accident and didn't suspect his son was suicidal.

"He was wonderful, great, always in a good mood," Edward Crawford Sr. told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"He just got a new apartment and was training for a new job."

Missouri Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, said her condolences on Crawford's death on Twitter.

"Edward Crawford is dead. Found in his car shot to death. He is #Ferguson's hero. For those of us tear-gassed, he was our local champion. RIP," Chappelle-Nadal wrote Friday morning.

Crawford, 27, gained nationwide recognition in 2014 when a photographer captured him grabbing a smoking tear gas can and throwing it back at the officers after they fired it. He later said it wasn't an act of aggression toward police.

"I threw it out of the way of children," Crawford told the newspaper in 2015.

He was cited for interfering with a police officer and assault after the incident. The case is still pending.

The photograph was part of St. Louis Post-Dispatch's coverage on the Ferguson protest that went on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 2015.

Crawford leaves behind four children.

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