The chief publicly said Wilson realized it during the encounter. That's enough evidence to say it's more than opinion, IMO.
Personally, when I add what the chief said to DJ's statement, I think he realized it before he came back. That is JMO though.
FERGUSON OFFICER REALIZED DURING ENCOUNTER THAT MICHAEL BROWN MIGHT be SUSPECT in ROBBERY, CHIEF SAYS
The officer who shot Ferguson teen Michael Brown stopped Brown and another teen because they were walking in the street, not because of a robbery a few minutes earlier, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said Friday afternoon.
Jackson said
the officer was aware cigars had been taken in the robbery of a store nearby, but did not know when he encountered Brown and Dorian Johnson that they might be suspects. He stopped them because they were walking in the street, Jackson said.
But Jackson told the Post-Dispatch that the officer, Darren Wilson, saw cigars in Brown's hand and realized he might be the robber.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_52c40b84-ad90-5f9a-973c-70d628d0be04.html
Police Chief Thomas Jackson said the officer who fired the fatal shots, Darren Wilson, did not know Michael Brown was a robbery suspect when he
INITIALLY stopped the teen and a companion "because they were walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic." Jackson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that
Wilson knew there had been a robbery in the area but did not know that Brown was a suspect.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/darren-...er-who-fatally-shot-michael-brown-identified/
DJ said:
The officer drove away but stopped and backed up, almost hitting the pair, Johnson said.
He said he wasn't sure what prompted the officer to return.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/14/us/ferguson-michael-brown-shooting-5-things/index.html.