FERGUSON, Mo. – Ferguson police have confirmed that Dorian Johnson, who was with Michael Brown moments before Brown was fatally shot in 2014, was killed Sunday morning in a separate shooting.

According to a spokesperson with the Ferguson Police Department, the shooting happened around 8:30 a.m. in the 9600 block of Abaco Court, near Exuma Drive.

Officers arrived at the scene and found Dorian Johnson shot multiple times. Johnson later died of his injuries. He was 33.

One person is in custody, police said, and charges are being sought through the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

The department spokesperson stressed that police were not involved in the shooting.

Johnson became widely known in 2014 as an eyewitness walking alongside Michael Brown before the teen was shot by a Ferguson police officer. His account helped spark protests in Ferguson and nationwide, becoming a symbol of the fight for racial justice.

Johnson’s claims that Brown was shot in the back and was attempting to surrender to the officer when he was fatally wounded were ultimately contradicted by several other witness statements and reflected in a March 2015 Justice Department report.

The death of Johnson, years after the city became a national focal point, is seen by many as a tragic irony and is already drawing renewed national attention to Ferguson and the ongoing issue of gun violence.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to contact FPD detectives at 314-522-3100.