St. Louis — A former city police officer told a jury Thursday that he shot a 16-year-old to death in fear of his life but that the youth never pointed a weapon directly at him.

Anthony Martin's testimony in the wrongful death lawsuit against him was at odds with a videotaped deposition, made earlier and showed to the jury. In it, Martin said Torrence Mull did point what turned out to be a BB pistol.

On the witness stand, Martin told the court he fired one shot because Mull pulled the gun out of his waistband in an aggressive manner.

"It all happened so quickly," Martin said during the third day of evidence in the trial in St. Louis Circuit Court. "I thought Mr. Mull was going to kill me."

Mull was talking with a cousin at a bus stop near Natural Bridge and Harris avenues about 11:20 p.m. June 23, 2001, when Martin pulled up, according to testimony. Martin said Mull appeared to be hiding something in his waistband.

Martin said he expected Mull to flee if he had anything illegal. "They usually run. Mr. Mull did not run," Martin said. "So I let my guard down."

Mull was cursing and belligerent, Martin testified, before lifting his shirt as asked and pulled out what appeared to be a handgun.

Attorney Leonard Cervantes, suing for damages on behalf of Mull's mother, Cordelia Washington, showed a videotape in which Martin demonstrates how Mull pulled a gun and raised it toward him. Martin also agreed during the taped deposition when Cervantes asked whether he had shot Mull because the teen pulled a gun and pointed it at him.

Two witnesses to the shooting — Mull's cousin Willie Long, a soldier on leave from the Army, and a restaurant owner across the street — said they never saw a weapon in Mull's hand, according to earlier testimony.

Martin's first statement, written hours after the shooting, never mentioned Mull's cursing or belligerent manner, evidence showed.

The officer said he wrote a second statement three days after the shooting, in which he clarified which hand Mull used to pull the gun. Washington's attorneys said someone from the Police Department had called her to ask which hand her son favored.

Cervantes showed crime scene pictures of money lying on the ground near Mull's body.

"Isn't it one possibility that 'Tory' was reaching in his pocket for some change for the bus?" Cervantes asked. "And that is why he was pulling his shirt down over his waistband?"

Martin replied, "I suppose."

The jury is expected to begin deliberations today. Martin, now a Dallas police officer, is the sole defendant, but he is represented by lawyers hired by the city and state. If he loses, a state fund will pay the damages.