DHAKA: US president Barack Obama has appealed for calm in Ferguson, Missouri, after the shooting of a black teenager by police sparked two nights of violence.

He described the death on Saturday of Michael Brown as heartbreaking and added: ‘Remember this young man through reflection and understanding’.

In two nights of unrest in the St Louis suburb, dozens were arrested, shops looted and tear gas fired by police.

On Tuesday night, anger had turned to reflection at a community forum, reports the BBC.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon told a packed crowd at Christ the King United Church of Christ that the shooting felt ‘like an old wound torn fresh’.

Ferguson’s mayor and police chief also attended the meeting and were greeted with applause.

Earlier, the Reverend Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist, appealed for peace.

‘To become violent in Michael Brown's name is to betray the gentle giant he was,’ he said, flanked by Brown’s parents.

He said no-one had the right to take Michael Brown's name and ‘drag it through the mud’.

Police say Brown was shot several times after a struggle in a police car, but witnesses have said the unarmed Brown was shot when he had his arms raised.

BDST: 1248 HRS, AUG 13, 2014