An incident involving a teenager who was shot by police after he pointed a .38 at them has enraged Brooklynites and caused three straight nights of rioting.

NY Daily News:

At least 46 demonstrators were arrested along Church Ave. in East Flatbush. Police struggled to control a hostile crowd that broke away from a planned peaceful vigil for Kimani (Kiki) Gray, 16, killed by police on Saturday night.

Gray's sister Mahnefeh was among those arrested. A police officer suffered a gash in the face when a tossed brick hit him, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, and a window was smashed in an inspector's car.

"They didn't have to kill him," Makaeo Williams, 18, said as police on motorcycles tracked alongside him. "I'm feeling mad inside. I'm angry. That's why I'm out here."

Many in the community contest police allegations that Gray pointed a gun at cops when he was shot during a confrontation with two plainclothes officers on E. 52nd St. Saturday night. Those suspicions on the street intensified Wednesday when an autopsy report revealed Gray was hit by seven bullets -- three to the back.

It was not clear in what order the shots struck the teen or whether he had his back to the police when they opened fire .

A witness told the Daily News Tuesday that the youth did not have a gun in his hand. But a police spokesman said the witness told detectives she couldn't see the incident clearly "from the angle I was at.

A woman who identified herself as Gray's cousin told news outlets Wednesday that the teen was carrying a gun for a friend and was trying to alert cops that he had a weapon when he was shot. A loaded .38-caliber revolver was recovered at the scene.

That's a pretty lame scenario offered by the cousin. And while the shots in the back are troublesome, it is easy to imagine the young man spinning from the impact of the first few bullets and then getting hit in the back.

As for the riots, I hestitate to generalize from a few pictures in the Daily News article, bit it appears that at least some of the "youths" out protesting could be gangbangers. I suppose gangbangers have the same right to protest as anyone else, but they don't get a free ride from being called hypocrites for the mayhem and violence they themselves cause.

How long before Al Sharpton descends on the scene demanding "justice?"