A St. Louis County grand jury met for 25 days over three months and heard more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses — many of whom gave conflicting statements — before deciding not to indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, according to prosecutor Bob McCulloch. 
 
 Here are some of the highlights from the testimony, released by McCulloch's office Monday night: 
 
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 A PUNCH TO THE FACE 
 
 Wilson told the grand jury that he initially encountered Brown and a friend walking in a street and told them to move to the sidewalk, drawing an expletive from Brown. Wilson said he noticed that Brown had a handful of cigars, "and that's when it clicked for me" that the men were suspects in the theft of a convenience store reported minutes earlier. 
 
 Wilson said he asked a dispatcher to send additional officers, then backed his vehicle in front of Brown and his friend. As he tried to open the door, Wilson said, Brown slammed it back shut. Wilson said he pushed Brown with the door and Brown hit him in the face. Wilson told grand jurors he was thinking: "What do I do not to get beaten inside my car?" 
 
 Wilson said he drew his gun and threatened to shoot if Brown didn't move back, fearing another punch to the face could "knock me out or worse." 
 
 "He immediately grabs my gun and says, 'You are too much of a pussy to shoot me,'" Wilson said, saying he thought he would be shot when Brown dug the gun into the officer's hip. 
 
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 AN ANGRY LOOK 
 
 Wilson said he managed to pull the trigger, and the gun "clicked" twice without firing before a shot went through the window. Wilson said Brown stepped back and then looked at him with the "most intense, aggressive face." 
 
 "The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked. He comes back towards me again with his hands up." 
 
 Wilson said he covered his face and fired the gun again. He told the grand jury that he fired two shots in the car before Brown took off running and he followed him. 
 
 Wilson said when Brown stopped, he told him to get on the ground. He said he squeezed a series of shots when Brown kept coming toward him and put his right hand under his shirt in the waistband of his pants. 
 
 He said he fired another round of shots as Brown continued to gain on him, approaching Wilson as if he was going to tackle him: "Just coming straight at me like he was going to run right through me. And when he gets about ... 8 to 10 feet away ... all I see is his head and that's what I shot." 
 
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 A FRIEND'S SHOCK 
 
 Brown's companion that day, Dorian Johnson, told the grand jury he was stunned when Brown stole cigarillos from the convenience store, and expected to be arrested while they were walking home. But Wilson drove on after originally telling them to get on the sidewalk, reversing his vehicle and coming back at the pair after they ignored his demand. 
 
 "After he pulled back, there was no more sidewalk talk, it was nothing, it was just anger," Johnson told the grand jury. 
 
 He said Wilson opened his door suddenly, striking Brown, then closed the door and grabbed Brown by the neck. He said the two men engaged in a "tug of war" each holding on to the other's shirt and arms. 
 
 As the two wrestled, he said he heard Wilson say, "I'll shoot." Johnson said he never saw Brown punch Wilson, and didn't think he grabbed the officer's gun. 
 
 Johnson described being in shock as he realized things were getting out of control. 
 
 "At the time I couldn't open my mouth. I couldn't speak. I wanted to say could someone calm down . I'm still standing there, more shocked than ever because I see it is escalating, I can see and hear the cuss words, I can see the frowns on their faces getting more intense." 
 
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 TRYING TO RUN 
 
 After the initial shots were fired, Johnson said he and Brown took off running. After Wilson shot again, he said Brown stopped running and turned to face the officer. 
 
 "At that time Big Mike's hands was up, but not so much in the air because he had been struck ... he said I don't have a gun, but he's still mad, he still has his angry face. I don't have a gun. ... And before he can say the second sentence or before he can even get it out, that's when the several more shots came." 
 
 Johnson was asked if Brown ran at the officer prior to the fatal volley. He insisted he did not. ||||| A grand jury on Monday declined to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager, resolving a secretive, months-long legal saga and reigniting powerful frustrations about America’s policing of African Americans. 
 
 The decision means that Wilson, 28, will face no state charges for the Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. It also set off a show of fury on streets near where Brown was shot, a reflection of emotions that register in this riven city as either out of control or justifiable. 
 
 At least two police cars and a half-dozen buildings were set aflame. Not far from Christmas lights in downtown Ferguson that read “Seasons Greetings,” police fired tear-gas canisters to contain the crowds. People looted liquor and convenience stores, a response that ran counter to the peace that Missouri authorities, President Obama and Brown’s family had requested. 
 
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 As St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch announced the decision, National Guard troops fanned out across the city. There was calm and silence in the streets of Ferguson for a half-beat after the announcement, but anger erupted shortly thereafter, and just after midnight county police reported hearing automatic-weapon fire. Protestors also blocked Interstate 44, causing a miles-long back-up of traffic. 
 
 1 of 59 Full Screen Autoplay Close Awaiting the grand jury’s decision Skip Ad × Grand jury announces decision View Photos After weeks of anticipation, a grand jury announces decision on whether to indict officer Darren Wilson, whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown caused national uproar. Caption Authorities put out fires across the city in the wake of a decision not to indict Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. Nov. 24, 2014 A man stands by a burning St. Louis police car as police in riot gear prepare to clear the streets in Ferguson. Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 In a sign of the way that the events from Ferguson have both compelled and startled a nation, protesters also gathered in front of the White House as well as in major cities from coast to coast, with sporadic reports of police cars being attacked. 
 
 Well after midnight, firefighters were tending to the embers of several buildings. “Citizens, go home,” police standing on West Florissant Ave. said over a loudspeaker, and by that time most had. At a 1:30 a.m. press conference, St. Louis County police chief Jon Belmar said he felt “very uplifted that we didn’t have any loss of life,” according to the local media on hand. 
 
 Though many in St. Louis expected that Wilson would not be indicted, officials here faced a challenge in trying to provide rationale for that decision. McCulloch, during a news conference, emphasized that testimony varied sharply among eyewitnesses and made it difficult to have a clear account of what unfolded during the 90-second confrontation between Wilson and Brown on Canfield Drive. 
 
 “Hands up, don’t shoot” has become a rallying cry in recent month for protesters, but McCulloch said that even the image of Brown’s surrender may have been a fiction. 
 
 “Some witnesses maintained their original statement that Mr. Brown had his hands in the air and was not moving toward the officer when he was shot,” McCulloch said. “Several witnesses said Mr. Brown did not raise his hands at all or that he raised them briefly and then dropped them and then turned toward Officer Wilson, who then fired several rounds.” 
 
 A statement from Wilson’s attorneys released shortly after the grand jury announcement said that officers must sometimes make “split-second and difficult decisions” and that Wilson “followed his training and followed the law.” The statement didn’t mention Brown. 
 
 President Obama, speaking after the grand jury announcement, urged peace in St. Louis, as did many authorities in the region. The president also asked officers in Ferguson to show restraint. But Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) warned that “if people are violent or threatening property, then resources will be used.” 
 
 A grand jury has declined to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Here is a look back at the events following the August shooting. (Gillian Brockell and Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post) 
 
 For more than three months, the grand jury — made up of seven men and five women, nine white and three black — heard evidence into the shooting. They met 25 times and heard from 60 witnesses, McCulloch said. They considered charges ranging from first-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter. In a criminal trial, jurors must decide a crime has been committed beyond a reasonable doubt. But here, those jurors needed only to feel there was probable cause that Wilson had committed a crime. 
 
 “We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions,” the Brown family said in a statement released after the announcement. 
 
 A trove of evidence from the proceedings was released late Monday night, but beforehand McCulloch tried to describe the encounter between Wilson and Brown. He said that during the incident, Wilson angled his vehicle to block the path of Brown and friend Dorian Johnson. Two shots were fired while Wilson still sat in the car, and Brown’s blood was found inside the vehicle. McCulloch said, referencing witnesses, that some kind of “tussling” or “tug of war” took place. 
 
 Brown then ran east on Canfield, and Wilson gave chase. “Less than 90 seconds passed” during the entire encounter, McCulloch said. Ten shots were fired after Brown fled, and Brown was hit seven or eight times. 
 
 In an interview with the St. Louis County Police Department one day after the shooting, Wilson said that Brown had begun the encounter by leaning into the squad car’s driver’s-side door while Wilson was still inside — a way to prevent the officer from getting out. The dispute turned physical, and Wilson, who couldn’t reach his mace, drew his firearm. Brown managed to grab it, Wilson said. 
 
 “I was guaranteed he was going to shoot me,” the officer said, in an interview that was released along with other grand jury evidence. “He had completely overpowered me while I was sitting in the car.” 
 
 Among the documents released Monday, one showed Wilson in the hospital — presumably right after the shooting — standing and looking head-on at the camera. One of his cheeks was red, but not heavily bruised, in contrast with rumors after the shooting that suggested he had a broken or cracked orbital socket. 
 
 Officials had discussed emergency plans in the event of a violent reaction, while protest organizers and community leaders mapped out their response in the hopes of avoiding the unrest that exploded after Brown was killed. Brown’s family had asked for 4.5 minutes of silence after a grand jury decision was announced — symbolic of the 4.5 hours Brown’s body remained on the street after the shooting. 
 
 Hundreds had gathered on South Florissant Road, a main area of commerce in Ferguson. The windows of a law firm and a video store were smashed. Fuel fed fire in a garbage can, and protesters were wiping their faces of what they said was tear gas. The Ferguson police department, where Wilson worked, is also on South Florissant. 
 
 “I know how outraged and upset people are, but where’s the justice in this?” said Rosalind Hagedorn, a homemaker who came out to join the demonstration in front of police headquarters, pointing at a Beauty World shop with smashed windows. She said she has lived here for more than 30 years and shopped at that store. “I understand the emotion, but these people did nothing,” she said. 
 
 U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Monday night called Brown’s death a “tragedy” that has “sparked a national conversation about the need to ensure confidence between law enforcement and the communities they protect and serve.” 
 
 The grand jurors convened in mid-August, days after the shooting, and spent weeks considering the case. Discussions could have stretched on even longer; the panel had been granted an extension through early January. 
 
 Impatience and pressure for a decision have been building among residents and business owners, as well as police officers, who have been working 12-hour shifts with all leave time canceled since Saturday, said Jeff Roorda, business manager for the St. Louis Police Officers Association. That schedule will continue through the aftermath of the grand jury’s decision. 
 
 The closed-door grand jury process, much like the initial investigation, has been controversial. Opponents had asked McCulloch to recuse himself from the case over perceived biases; McCulloch’s father, a police officer, was killed on the job by an African-American. 
 
 Sarah Larimer and Jerry Markon in Washington contributed to this report.
– Why did the grand jury decide against indicting Darren Wilson? Soon after the decision was announced, the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney's office released thousands of pages of evidence that had been presented to the jurors over 25 days of meetings that included testimony from around 60 witnesses. Some key points, as reported by the AP, CNN, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Wilson said he feared for his life after Michael Brown punched him twice in the face and slammed the door on him as he tried to get out of his cruiser. "I felt that another of those punches in my face could knock me out or worse," the officer said. "I've already taken two to the face and I didn't think I would, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right." (Much more on Wilson's testimony here.) In a gallery of photos from the officer's medical examination after he shot the teenager, Wilson appears to have a bruise (described as a "facial contusion") on the right side of his face and abrasions on his neck. Dorian Johnson, who was with Brown at the time, testified that he saw the teenager struggle with Wilson, and "I'm hearing cuss words from both of them, but I don't really hear the officer saying you know, stop or get down on the ground." He said he didn't see Brown run at Wilson, but saw him take a step toward him "to show him that he didn't have anything." Another witness who was working nearby gave an account that resembles Wilson's, saying he saw Brown do a "body gesture" of some kind and immediately after, "he came for force, full charge at the officer." One juror asked the officer why he didn't just drive away. "My thought is, I was still dealing with a threat at my car," Wilson said. "You know, we're trained not to run away from a threat, to deal with a threat and that is what I was doing. That never entered my mind to flee." The final witness was a homicide detective who investigated the shooting, and jurors asked him a long series of questions. "This officer felt he was in danger of being beaten to death sitting in his car, you could almost say there was a weapon involved at that point, that's where I'm confused a little bit," one juror said. "I understand no weapon in the form of a pistol or a handgun, if you are in danger, that your life was in danger that you are being beaten to death, is there a weapon or not?"