Washington, April 23 (IANS/EFE): The family of Michael Brown, a black teenager killed by a police officer last year in Ferguson in the US state of Missouri, will sue the city for wrongful death, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The family will file the suit at the St. Louis County Courthouse on Thursday morning and subsequently hold a press conference with their lawyer.

On August 9 last year, Brown, 18, was shot by a white police officer six times, twice in the head, despite being unarmed.

The incident triggered a wave of protests and riots throughout the US and reopened debate on racial profiling by police.

In November, Darren White, the police officer who shot Brown, was released without charges after a grand jury concluded there was insufficient evidence to indict him.

Nonetheless, Brown's death and the widespread protests that followed turned the incident, one that US President Barack Obama described as "heartbreaking", into a national issue.

It also led to a series of high-level resignations including that of the Ferguson police chief.