this is a special edition of "nightline" -- decision in ferguson. >> breaking news. protesters clashing with police flooding the streets as the city descends into a cloud of tear gas. after the grand jury decides not to indict officer darren wilson in the killing of unarmed 18-year-old michael brown. and we are in the eye of the storm. now, with tensions running high, swift, widespread reaction across the country -- in a half dozen cities, from new york to oakland to los angeles. all eyes on the missouri city. the brown family calling for peace in spite of their profound disappointment. what this means and what happens next. >> this special edition of

"nightline: decision in ferguson" will be right back.

♪ ♪ it's a marshmallow world in the winter. ♪ ♪ 70... if only everyone had this issue. no matter what challenge they face, easter seals is here for america's veterans. this is a special edition of "nightline: decision in ferguson." >> good evening. breaking news tonight. chaos erupting on the streets of missouri. the grand jury finding no probable cause to indict officer darren wilson in the death of an unarmed teenager, michael brown. and tonight, new documents, what the grand jury saw, including, for the first time, what officer

wilson says happened that fateful night. sparking a massive showdown between protesters and police, escalating with reports of automatic gunfire along with the vandalism and turmoil. moments ago the police chief announcing there are roughly a dozen buildings still on fire. and that although their main goal is preserving lives, the situation is far from ideal. >> i'm disappointed in this evening. i really don't have any hesitation in telling you i didn't see a lot of peaceful protest out there tonight and i'm disappointed about that. i'm not saying there weren't folks out there for the right reason, i'm not saying that wasn't the case. i am saying unfortunately it spun out of control. >> that moments ago. we turn to steve osunsami on the scene in ferguson. >> reporter: tonight, a city on fire. anger exploding in the streets of ferguson, missouri, after the dig was finally announced in this racially explosive case. darren wilson, the ferguson police officer, not indicted in

the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old michael brown. >> the grand jury deliberated over two days, making their final decision. they determined no probable cause exists in filing any charge against officer wilson and returned no true bill on each of the five indictments. >> reporter: moments later protesters got violent, setting police cars on fire. police fighting them back with tear gas. gunshots rang through the air feet from the ferguson police station. the faa issued a no-fly zone for the st. louis area. new tonight prosecutors are releasing massive amounts of evidence. never before seen pictures of wilson in the moments after his alleged fight with the unarmed 18-year-old and the gun wilson used to kill him. a medical report from that night shows wilson needed x-rays and anti-inflammatory medicine for a facial bruise. tonight for the first time we get wilson's account in his interview with police the day

after the shooting. he said, i was guaranteed he was going to shoot me. that's what i thought his goal was. >> this grand jury wasn't deciding guilt or innocence. they were just deciding, is there probable cause to send this case to trial? was there enough evidence for a regular jury to decide guilt or innocence? and these grand jurors said, no. >> reporter: president obama weighed in shortly after the news broke. benjamin crump, the attorney who represented the family of trayvon martin, another young black teen killed, was with brown's family when they learned the news. >> she is heartbroken that the system would allow her unarmed son to be killed in broad daylight and the officer not even have to come to court. >> reporter: brown's mother, who broke down into tears when she found out, is now demanding an explanation. in a statement, officer wilson defended his actions saying he followed his training and followed the law.

prosecutors made sure the grand jury looked like the county, nine white jurors and three plaque jurors. in ferguson where brown was killed, 68% of residents are african-american. >> the d.a. gave these grand jurors all of the evidence and says he didn't make a recommendation at all. in effect punting to these grand jurors and saying, you decide. >> reporter: it's a case that picks at one of america's oldest wounds, racial injustice, in the sense that black lives don't matter. right now this town that promised to remain peaceful already boiling over with anger from demonstrators. we met haiku, a young activist and hip-hop artist back in august at the height of the protests. tonight, he waited in the crowd, right in front of the police department. >> there's no indictment. we knew that, though. >> reporter: police here prepared for the worst. st. louis county police alone bought 650 tear gas grenades and

2,000 plastic handcuffs and 1,500 bean bags filled with chemicals that sting the eyes and nose. but the outrage isn't just here in ferguson. the decision has led to fresh protests all across the country. >> we have police brutality alive and well all over the country. ferguson is a spark. >> reporter: in new york, hundreds of protesters are meeting in union square, ready for the long haul. >> so our message to the people in ferguson is that we are with you 100%. >> reporter: promising these protests will end no time soon. >> we're going to be here at 2:00, we're going to be here at 5:00, we're going to be here at 7:00, we ain't going no [ bleep ]. >> reporter: the decision comes aun 08 days after brown died. he was walking when a friend when the friend says they were confronted by police and told to get off the street. witnesses say brown was hands up giving in as bullets flew. >> i saw him with hands up and the cop continued to shoot him

until he fell to the ground. >> reporter: police and witnesses tell a different story saying brown fought with wilson when he stepped out of his wilson. saying brown put him back in the squad car and went for wilson's gun. wilson describes the moments leading up to confrontation with brown. he had already shot at him several but says that michael brown "keeps coming at me. i'm backpedals pretty good because i know if he reaches me he'll kill me. when he gets eight to ten feet away i look down. i remember looking at my sights and firing. all i see is his head and that's what i shot. i don't know how many. i saw the last one go into him. then when it went into him the demeanor on his face went blank. the aggression was gone." >> it is our understanding at this point in the investigation that within the police car there was a struggle over the officer's weapon. >> reporter: six days after the incident police released this surveillance video. they say that's michael brown wearing the red hat. allegedly committing a strongarm robbery at a liquor store 15 minutes before he was shot. then there's this surveillance

video released just this month showing officer darren wilson leaving the police station hours after the shooting. in this image he doesn't appear to have any visible injuries from a fight. michael brown's family demanded action. >> how can peace be restored? >> arresting this man and making him accountable for his actions. >> reporter: in august, peaceful protests quickly turned violent. thieves used the protest as an excuse to loot and burn down this convenience store. the national guard moved in to enforce the statement-mandated curfew. >> you must leave immediately. >> no justice! >> reporter: ferguson quickly became ground zero for one of the most intense civil rights debates in recent memory. in the middle of the action is where we met haiku, the hip-hop artist documenting the unrest. >> just marching and they start tear gassing. >> as soon as the sun goes down, man, it's like a third world

country that's fighting for liberation once again. it really is like that. >> reporter: new clues came in with the county autopsy and toxicology reports. brown's tissue fragments were found on the exterior surface of the police officer's motor vehicle, a detail that seemed to support police accounts that brown violently fought with the officer. but michael baden, the forensic pathologist held by brown's family, held an independent autopsy and found officer wilson shot and killed brown from a distance. >> the muzzle of the gun was one to two feet away, it could have been 30 feet away. >> reporter: officer darren wilson has not been seen in public since august 9th. records show he got his marriage license in october. and he did testify to the grand jury. just this weekend, michael brown's father pleading for calm ahead of the grand jury decision. >> i thank you for lifting your voices to end racial profiling and police intimidation. but hurting others or destroying

property is not the answer. >> reporter: tonight protests rage on as stores and houses burn to the ground. and the looters using the name of michael brown to steal. but these protesters are calling for justice. something they fear they may never see. the prosecutor here now has the difficult task of trying to convince so many people who refuse to believe it that justice was served here. juju? >> thanks, steve, for your coverage these past few months. stay safe. i'm joined by dan abrahams with his legal hat on tonight. clearly the matter is not over in the streets or the court of public opinion. from a legal perspective, is it over? >> the criminal case is basically over. the feds are investigating as well. it's likely that will go nowhere with regard to this case. but it's still possible that you'll have a civil lawsuit whereby the family sues officer wilson, sues the police department, and all of these issues are addressed again.

>> what's the legal burden of proof? >> there it would be by preponderance of the evidence, more likely than not. much lower than a criminal case. but remember no criminal jury evaluated the evidence, just a grand jury deciding there isn't even enough evidence to send the case to trial. >> interesting. the st. louis prosecutor was criticized for being very hands-off. tonight you saw a different attitude. >> he seems to be supporting the grand jury's decision. not quite saying that. saying he handed it off to the brand ju grand jury and they reviewed the evidence objectively. the way he sounded in that press conference sounded as if he was backing up the grand jury, sparting them in exactly what they decided and how they decided it. now we have this huge dump of information that they have now released to the public. very unusual to release all this grand jury material. so in theory the public can decide for themselves. and understand, the prosecutor hopes, why some of the eyewitness testimony that we've heard so much about was

contradicted by the physical evidence, according to the prosecutor. >> he took a long time putting it into context. >> absolutely. he wants the public to not just understand but accept the grand jury. it's not going to be easy. >> you have a lot of reading ahead of you. thanks so much for being with us. we'll be right back. would quit.' ght you but chantix helped me do it. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it gave me the power to overcome the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some people had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix or history of seizures. don' take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems,

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to help support coast guard members and their families. tonight, ferguson descending into chaos with looting, vandalism and violence in the streets. now, as police crack down on protesters, residents remember a very different city than the turbulent scene being broadcast around the world. how did things spiral so out of control? abc's alex perez is on the ground in ferguson tonight.

alex? >> reporter: hey, juju. it has been a crazy night here in ferguson. at one point, my crew and i were in the middle of a group of protesters when we heard three gunshots come from the crowd. we had to drop to the ground to get to safety. many of these protesters are angry and they don't plan on going home any time soon. today's grand jury announcement in the shooting of mike brown has created widespread civil unrest across the st. louis area. angry protesters confronting police in the streets. police cars destroyed and set on fire. tear gas and smoke canisters used to disperse the crowds. it's without a doubt been the most intense 3 1/2 months this small midwestern town has ever seen. last week, governor jay nixon declared a 30-day state of emergency in anticipation of the very unrest we are seeing in the streets tonight. for residents, it's been a

traumatic leadup that's created deep divides. >> it could have been me down there dead. it could have been me shot, laying in the street. you know, my killer walked free. >> reporter: michael brown's friend, dorian johnson, was with him in the minutes before the shooting. tonight, he says, no indictment, no justice. >> it's hurtful to think that someone can be murdered and the killer walk away free. >> reporter: the days leading up to today, the town has been on a virtual lockdown. stores appear closed because businesses have boarded up their win doughs in fear. >> we look abandoned here. pretty much in prison. >> reporter: sports fields and playgrounds look like ghost towns, all devoid of life because the school district officially closed for the rest of the week. in the predominantly white suburbs of st. louis, we spent time with a couple who has lived in the area for decades and is hunkered down at home tonight. >> it's always been a wonderful place to raise your children and raise a family. >> reporter: but the last few

weeks, they felt their city has been under siege, taken over by rowdy protesters. >> our whole city right now is fearful. >> everybody feels like they're a random target right now and it's very uncomfortable. >> police officers are thought of as bad. and all white people are thought of as bad. and that's not the case. >> reporter: they've asked us to call them peter and sarah for fear their speaking out will create backlash. >> i certainly respect anybody's right to protest. i've even protested before, but every rule of protesting has been violated. they are terrorizing this town. >> reporter: sarah says she is sympathetic for officer darren wilson. >> he can't speak now. there's bounties on his head and there are facebook pages set up with bounties that have been collected to kill the man. this isn't the way to solve problems. >> reporter: a support darren wilson facebook group declined to speak with us. but has over 83,000 likes. >> for us as citizens of this town to see our police officers

being -- throwing urine on them, throwing rocks at them, throwing bricks at them, having their police cars kicked, being spit on. nobody in any job would want to put up with that. >> reporter: despite the unrest, sarah and peter hold that race isn't an issue in st. louis. >> our town isn't racist. i don't know anyone racist myself personally. i think the day and age of racism has gone and passed us. >> reporter: but on the other side of town, reverend mike kinman of christchurch cathedral says that some residents need to re-examine their white privilege. >> to even be able to say there isn't a race problem here shows how deeply disconnected that we are. >> reporter: he and other clergy have designated their churches safe places tonight, where residents can come for counselling and peaceful discussion. >> until we weep for him as our son, we're not going to get this right. >> no justice, no peace!

>> reporter: this 29-year-old of minneapolis is one of the out of town protesters who has become a central organizer in ferguson since august. we met up with him this weekend. >> people are upset about black lives being destroyed in america and people of all races are coming out to be a part of this movement. >> reporter: to combat the unrest, he's been training would be protesters on peaceful demonstration tactics. for weeks, preparing for this evening. in community centers, protesters have been learning how to go limp if detained by police to mitigate violence and injury. >> there's no stress, no fear right now, because we know we're on the right side of justice. >> reporter: a public school's hr director, he's created a newsletter of protest news, tweets and meetups that keeps 8,000 subscribers updated with the latest information. >> if it were not for twitter, missouri would have convinced people we didn't exist. >> reporter: this evening, he released an open letter on behalf of the protesters. for 108 days, we have been admonished that we should let the system work and wait to see what the results are.

the results are in and we still don't have justice. >> this is it, hold it down! >> reporter: back at the police station, where haiku heard the no indictment news earlier this evening, he vowed to stay all night with other protesters to voice their dismay. >> it means it's legal to kill unarmed kids. i don't care if he was 18, that was a kid, fresh out of high school. and that message to the world right now is that it's okay to kill us. >> reporter: there's no telling when the unrest will end and when the healing will begin. and you can pretty much hear police sirens every couple of seconds here in ferguson tonight. there are hundreds of police officers on the ground and hundreds of protesters. they're preparing for a long night ahead here. juju? >> thanks, alex. a town under siege. thanks for your report. stay safe. we'll be right back.

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i'm in, because i'm getting the best care around. you too can enjoy quality health coverage. to enroll, or find free in-person help, go to coveredca.com and finally tonight, widespread protests. not just in missouri. as one grand jury's decision continues to reverberate. in ferguson tonight, the pent-up fury and frustration spilling out on the streets. protesters shocked by tonight's decision sparking clashes with heavily fortified police and federal officers. clouds of smoke filling the air like a horror movie, as tear gas canisters are lobbed at people on the street. there were reports of looting tonight at the liquor store in ferguson, along with a pharmacy. hundreds of protesters at one point blocking a main artery, i-44 in st. louis. at least two police cars were set on fire.

other cars overturned. this storefront, a little caesars pizza joint, burned quickly. others shuttered. and across the country, people took to the streets in sympathy, from new york to philadelphia, from oakland to los angeles. as we leave you with these images, our thoughts are with those affected by the unrest in ferguson tonight. thanks for watching abc news. "world news now" is coming up soon with overnight breaking news. tune into "good morning america" tomorrow for more analysis. and as always, we are online at abcnews.com. good night, america.

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