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Photos reflect some of the changes in Ferguson since 2014

The fatal police shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014, was followed by months of often violent protests in Ferguson, the Missouri town where the black and unarmed 18-year-old was killed.

The unrest began the night after the shooting when a QuikTrip convenience store on West Florissant Avenue, just a few blocks from the site of the shooting, was looted and burned. Many other businesses were damaged or destroyed that night and in the weeks ahead, as protesters clashed nightly with police in riot gear and using military-style weapons and vehicles.

Ferguson is still in the process of recovering. The Ferguson Community Empowerment Center now stands at the site of the QuikTrip, housing the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Salvation Army and other offices. A new Boys & Girls Club building is going up a few blocks away.

But West Florissant is still scarred with empty lots where businesses had to be demolished, and empty storefronts where businesses moved away.

On Canfield Drive, the large makeshift memorial to Brown is long gone. A small, permanent marker near the shooting site remains, adorned with a few flowers or stuffed animals. The city replaced a patch of pavement at the actual shooting site, at the request of Brown's family.

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Text from AP News story Photos reflect some of the changes in Ferguson since 2014, Jeff Roberson and Jim Slater.

Photos by Jeff Roberson

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