St. Louis, MO  (KTRS)  A prominent Ferguson protester is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police say Edward Crawford, Jr.  was riding in the back seat of a car late Thursday night in the Hyde Park neighborhood of north St. Louis. Two women were also in the car and claim Crawford reached for something before a gun fired. The women told police that prior to the shooting Crawford was talking about how depressed he was over personal matters.

Crawford’s father, Edward Crawford, Sr. told the “St. Louis Post Dispatch” that he believed the shooting was accidental and not intentional.

Edward Crawford, Jr.was photographed throwing a tear gas canister back toward police during a protest on August 13, 2014.