Darren Wilson, Ferguson officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, resigns

The white police officer who killed Michael Brown has resigned from the Ferguson Police Department, his attorney said Saturday, nearly four months after the fatal confrontation with the black 18-year-old that fueled protests in the St. Louis suburb and across the nation.

Darren Wilson, 28, has been on administrative leave since the shooting on Aug. 9. His resignation was announced Saturday by one of his attorneys, Neil Bruntrager. The resignation is effective immediately, Bruntrager said. He declined further immediate comment but said he would release more details Saturday night.

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The attorney for the Brown family, Benjamin Crump, did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment.

Ferguson officials planned to make a statement on Wilson's resignation Sunday, said Stephanie Karr, city attorney for Ferguson. Karr earlier this week said Wilson had been on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal police investigation.

Resigned out of 'own free will'

Wilson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper he was stepping down out of his "own free will" after the police department told him it had received threats of violence if he remained an employee.

"I'm not willing to let someone else get hurt because of me," he told the newspaper.

Wilson fatally shot Brown after a scuffle in the middle of a street, where Brown's body lay for several hours as police investigated and a crowd of angry onlookers gathered. Several days of tense and at times violent protests followed, prompting Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to call in the National Guard to help.

Some witnesses have said Brown had his hands up when Wilson shot him. Wilson told a grand jury that reviewed the case that he feared for his life when Brown hit him and reached for his gun.

The grand jury spent more than three months reviewing evidence in the case before declining in November to issue any charges against Wilson.

On Monday night, when prosecutors announced that the grand jury declined to indict Wilson, the St. Louis suburb of 20,000 residents was ravaged by looting and violence. By Tuesday, Nixon had sent more than 2,200 National Guard members to the area.

We just wanted justice. If we'd have had justice, none of this would have happened.- Tracy Ballard, 44

Though protests calmed significantly, more than 100 people have been arrested since Monday.

Demonstrations, which also have been held other U.S. cities, were expected to continue.

Police earlier Saturday reopened several blocks of a major street that had been barricaded off since Tuesday. Some business owners spent the day cleaning up, hoping customers soon would return.

Tracy Ballard, 44, brought her seven-year-old daughter to buy candy and soda.

"I feel sad for the business owners," Ballard said. "It's really sad it had to come from this. We just wanted justice. If we'd have had justice, none of this would have happened."

The U.S. Justice Department is still conducting a civil rights investigation into the shooting and a separate probe of police department practices.

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More than 100 protesters gathered near police headquarters, where they were outnumbered by officers, following the news. At least one person was arrested after a brief standoff, but many seemed unfazed by the resignation. Several shrugged.​

"We were not after Wilson's job," the Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist, said in a statement to the AP. "We were after Michael Brown's justice."

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson didn't immediately return a message left on his cellphone seeking comment.

Wilson says his conscience is clean

After the shooting, Wilson spent months in hiding and made no public statements. He broke his silence after the grand jury decision, telling ABC News that he could not have done anything differently in the encounter with Brown.

We were not after Wilson's job. We were after Michael Brown's justice.- Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist

Wilson said he has a clean conscience because "I know I did my job right." Brown's shooting was the first time he fired his gun on the job, he said.

Asked whether the encounter would have unfolded the same way if Brown had been white, Wilson said yes.

Wilson began his career in nearby Jennings before moving to the Ferguson job a few years ago. He had no previous complaints against him and a good career record, according to Police Chief Thomas Jackson, who called Wilson "an excellent police officer."

A few months before the shooting, Wilson had received a commendation for detaining a suspect in a drug case.