A 23-year-old man was shot and killed after he brandished a knife at police officers in northern St. Louis, the U.S. state of Missouri, on Tuesday, local authorities said.

Police said that the shooting involving two officers took place around 12:30 p.m. local time in the city's sixth district, about a few miles away from the turbulent suburb of Ferguson where the shooting death of an 18-year-old unarmed black teen sparked violent protests and clashes.

Shortly after the incident, St. Louis Metropolitan police chief Sam Dotson said in a tweet that the suspect brandished a knife at officers and that no officers were injured.

According to the police, two officers arrived at the district after receiving a 911 call from employees of a local convenience store, who said the man had taken drinks and food from the store without paying for them.

Both officers gave the suspect verbal commands, repeatedly ordering him to drop the knife, Dotson told reporters. The two fired their weapons as the suspect began approaching them. " Suspect yelled kill me now and approached," he said in the tweet.

Investigation is still under way, and the suspect's name was not released.

The shooting came at a sensitive time as nearby Ferguson has been embroiled in tense confrontations between police and protesters for the past days, sparking a racially charged debate over the simmering mistrust between law enforcement officers and local communities.

When asked about tensions in the St. Louis area, the police chief said, "I think anyone who has been watching television over the last week has to be concerned ... I think it's important people understand what happened."

But he noted that "we have a different situation here, handled much better."

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