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Officer in shooting says he did his job right

FERGUSON (Missouri) — Displaying an icy calm, police officer Darren Wilson said he is sorry about killing unarmed teen Michael Brown, but his conscience is clear — and he is not losing sleep over what happened.

ABC News' chief anchor George Stephanopoulos (left) interviews Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Nov 25, 2014 in Missouri. Photo: ABC News/AP

ABC News' chief anchor George Stephanopoulos (left) interviews Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Nov 25, 2014 in Missouri. Photo: ABC News/AP

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FERGUSON (Missouri) — Displaying an icy calm, police officer Darren Wilson said he is sorry about killing unarmed teen Michael Brown, but his conscience is clear — and he is not losing sleep over what happened.

“I don’t think it’s haunting; it’s always going to be something that happened,” the Ferguson, Missouri, officer told ABC News on Tuesday in his first television interview since the fatal Aug 9 shooting.

“The reason I have a clean conscience is that I did my job right,” he said.

Dressed in a blue-collared shirt, Mr Wilson, 28, did not flinch when journalist George Stephanopoulos asked a question about race: Would he have fired had Brown been white and not black?

“No question,” he said.

Mr Wilson, who had been on the Ferguson force for less than three years, said he had never fired his weapon before and that there was nothing he could have done differently.

He said the hulking 18-year-old was belligerent when he stopped Brown and a friend as they were walking on the street.

“What the f*** are you going to do about it?” Brown replied, recounted Mr Wilson, who said he saw the cigarillos in the teen’s hands Brown was accused of stealing and realised Brown was one of the suspects sought for a convenience store robbery.

The officer said Brown trapped him inside his police patrol car and then hit him in the face, causing Mr Wilson to draw his gun to save himself.

“I didn’t know if I’d be able to withstand another hit like that,” the officer said.

The first two times he pulled the trigger the gun jammed, as he and Brown struggled for the weapon, Mr Wilson said. It fired the third time, he said.

By then, Brown had moved away from the car and Mr Wilson said he got out of his patrol car and chased him. At that point, Mr Wilson said, Brown turned around and his “right hand went to his waistband” — making Wilson believe he may have been armed.

“No way,” Mr Wilson answered when Mr Stephanopoulos asked if Brown — as several witnesses said — had raised his hands in surrender.

Mr Wilson said that for a split second, he debated: “Can I shoot this guy?” Then he pulled the trigger again.

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