Black Lives Matter Supporter Shot Dead By Off-Duty Police

A Black Lives Matter supporter was shot dead by an off-duty police officer after allegedly breaking into the cop's home following a row on Facebook.

Police said Tyler Gebhard smashed a window at the officer's home before he was shot in the chest in St Louis, Missouri, in the wake of Thursday's Dallas police massacre.

Gebhard, who suffered from bi-polar disorder, was said to have become embroiled in a row with the officer on Facebook over the Black Lives Matter campaign and allegedly made threats towards him and his family.

The incident comes in the wake of the shooting of five police officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas on Thursday. The demonstration had been organised following the deaths of two black men - Philando Castile and Alton Sterling - shot dead by police last week.

The unnamed officer has been placed on leave following the incident.

St. Louis county police chief Jon Belmar told a press conference: "I don’t think the officer had a choice, I honestly don’t."

Gebhard's uncle, Patrick Brogan said his nephew and the officer had met through a local church and fell out on Facebook over Black Lives Matter.

He told the St Louis Post-Dispatch: "He had a lot of mental problems the last few months. A lot of difficulties in life."