As authorities braced for another night of protests over the Michael Brown shooting death at the hands of a Ferguson, Mo. policeman, another black man was shot and killed nearby by St.Louis police as he wielded a knife and charged them.

The as-yet identified man allegedly charged two St. Louis city police officers a few miles away from Ferguson early Tuesday. Police said he bull-rushed to three or four feet away from the officers who then opened fire.

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The incident took place within two miles of the command center for authorities dealing with the tinderbox that is Ferguson and about three miles from the spot where Brown was slain. St. Louis alderman Antonio French said the incident was the last thing the area needed. He urged residents and police of the African-American neighborhood where it took place to remain calm. 

Witnesses called the incident suicide by cop. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said the man was 23 years old and left a convenience store without paying for a box of pastries and energy drinks. The man was walking erratically back and forth across a street near officers, the chief said.

Officers asked the man several times to drop his knife. They drew weapons when he didn't. The man told the police to shoot him now, kill him now, as he charged, according to Dotson.

A crowd of 100 people gathered at the scene within minutes of the shooting. Crowd members held up their hands while chanting "Hands up! Don't shoot!" That's the refrain that has become famous during the Ferguson protests three miles away in response to Brown's controversial shooting death.

While police had angered Ferguson protestors by treating them as enemies, French, the alderman, said St. Louis police handled the knife-wielding incident better, so he hoped the situations would not escalate.

Tagsmichael brown, michael brown shooting, Ferguson, police, st. louis, suicide by cop, Eric Holder, riots, violence