A black teenager shot and killed by white St. Louis police officers this week died from a single gunshot that entered his back and struck his heart, a medical examiner said on Friday, which appears to contradict the police account of the shooting.

News of the preliminary results of an autopsy escalated tensions that had flared after Wednesday's killing of Mansur Ball-Bey, as protesters and family of the slain 18-year-old questioned police accounts that he pointed a gun at officers.

In angry clashes Wednesday night, officers in riot gear fired tear gas and more protests followed on Thursday night.