Rioters smashed car windows and carried away armloads of looted goods from shops in a suburb of the US city of St Louis on Sunday night.

Thousands of people had packed the suburb of Ferguson to attend a vigil for an unarmed black man who had been shot and killed by a police officer.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Ferguson Police headquarters.

At one point many of them marched into an adjacent police building, some chanting: “Don’t shoot me” while holding their hands in the air.

Officers didn’t use force and the crowd eventually left.

The evening candlelit gathering was held in memory of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was shot multiple times on Saturday after a scuffle involving the officer, Brown and another person in the predominantly black suburb.

The killing drew criticism from civil rights leaders.

“We’re outraged because yet again a young African-American man has been killed by law enforcement,” said John Gaskin, who serves on both the St Louis County and national boards of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.

After the vigil, some people broke away and looted several stores along a main road near the shooting scene.

People were seen carrying away bags of food. TV footage showed streams of people walking out of an off-licence carrying alcohol and protesters standing on police cars or taunting officers in riot gear.

Witnesses reported seeing people vandalise police cars and kick in windows.

Police are still investigating why the officer shot Mr Brown, who they have admitted was unarmed.