Darren Wilson, the Ferguson cop who shot dead teen Michael Brown, to become a father

Darren Wilson says he feels remorse for the loss of Michael Brown's life but says he was just doing his job. Photo / ABC

Darren Wilson is about to become a father for the first time, he has revealed during an exclusive interview.

The 28-year-old officer broke the news that his wife, fellow cop Barbara Spradling, 37, is pregnant during an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos at a secret location.

The couple married quietly on October 24 in front of his lawyer and a judge in Overland, Missouri.

The interview marks the first time Wilson has spoken publicly since he shot dead unarmed teenager Michael Brown on August 9. It was aired after a grand jury's decision not to indict him on any charges was announced and sparked mass riots in Ferguson, Missouri.

Wilson confirmed he had recently gotten married and his wife was pregnant, adding that the couple "just want to live a normal life".

However, Wilson conceded that there would be "a new normal" for him following that fateful Saturday in August where an altercation on a quiet Ferguson street led to him shooting the unarmed 18-year-old.

Wilson said that being a police officer in Ferguson was the "job of my life" and that his only dream in life was to be made sergeant.

"I wanted to stay on the road for 30 years and then retire as sergeant and have a retirement," Wilson said. "That's all that I wanted."

He has served for four years in the St Louis suburb and another two in another town.

The cop refused to say whether he would return to the force or resign, saying that decisions were still being made.

He added: "I'm not sure it's possible. I mean, you think they would accept me? You think it'd be safe for me?"

He also said other officers could be at risk because of his reputation.

Wilson said that "stressful was an understatement" to describe his life following the Michael Brown shooting.

'I would love to teach people'

"You are always looking to see if someone is following you or has noticed you," Wilson said. "I grew a beard, it was uncomfortable but it helped. You take precautions, where you sit in a restaurant, where you drive.

"Everything has to run through your head. It's every time you walk, you make sure no one's following you, everything."

However the cop said he wanted something good to emerge from his experience. He told GMA: "I would love to teach people. I would love to give more insight on ... into the use of force and anything I can.

"Anything that I can get out of this career I've had so far and of the incident, I would love to give to someone else."

Michael Brown's family reacted with anger on Wednesday, saying Wilson's interview added "insult to injury".

The teenager's mother, Lesley McSpadden, told CBS she didn't think Wilson wanted to kill Michael but that "he wanted to kill someone".

Wilson also revealed on Wednesday the moment that he knew he had killed Michael Brown.

Michael Brown's death and this week's clearing of the officer who shot him triggered riots around the US.

"I saw the face he had go blank," he said. "His face was blank. I knew he had passed."

Wilson had earlier recalled how he was on his way to grab lunch on August 9, when he came across Brown and friend Dorian Johnson walking single-file in the middle of the street.

Just a few minutes later, Brown would be shot dead after allegedly starting a fist-fight with the cop.

Wilson said Brown would be alive today if he had just followed his original order to stop walking on the street, and move to the sidewalk.

The 28-year-old officer was interviewed at a secret location less than 24 hours after the grand jury decision was announced.

He talked Stephanopoulos through each step of the confrontation which culminated in Wilson firing his gun for the first time in his law enforcement career and killing the unarmed teen.

While he feels remorse for Brown's death, Wilson maintained that he made the right choice to use lethal force in the fight and would do it all over again.

"I don't think it's haunting; it's always going to be something that happened," he said. "The reason I have a clear conscience is because I know I did my job right."

St Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch revealed on Monday that Wilson was trying to arrest Brown in connection to a reported robbery on the day the 18-year-old was shot dead.

Wilson said he was in his police SUV when he saw Brown and Johnson and that he pulled up next to them, asking them to move to the sidewalk.

He said the two ignored his request and it was then that he noticed Brown carrying a handful of cigarillos - the same items stolen in a convenience store robbery he heard reported over the his police radio minutes earlier.

Reached for his gun

Wilson admitted he "probably never would have noticed the cigarillos" if Brown "had just followed orders".

Wilson said he would have left the two alone, and driven off in search of food as he was doing before.

Instead, Wilson said Brown was defensive from the start of their conversation, saying "f*** what you have to say" when the officer asked him to move off the street.

Noticing the cigarillos in Brown's hand, and how Johnson's clothing matched the description in the robbery report, Wilson called for back-up and then pulled his car out in front of the pair to block their path.

Wilson says he planned to get out of the SUV and talk to the pair until back-up arrived, but that Brown slammed his driver's door shut when he attempted to exit the vehicle, saying "what the f*** are you going to do about it?"

The officer then tried to push out the door to free himself from the vehicle, but says Brown kept pushing the door shut and eventually reached his hands into the vehicle to throw the first punch.

For the next 10 seconds, Wilson and Brown were engaged in a fist fight and the cop says it was then that he "felt the immense power' 6'4', 292lb Brown had. Wilson is the same height and 210 pounds. Wilson has repeatedly used the analogy that he felt like a five-year-old grappling with Hulk Hogan.

"He was a very large, a very powerful man," Wilson recalled.

Brown's parents said of Wilson: "I don't think he wanted to kill my son but he wanted to kill someone."

Afraid that the next blow could render him unconscious, Wilson says his training kicked in and overrode his actions. He says he immediately ruled out mace, saying it could have been used to disable Brown but that Brown could have grabbed it and used it against him as well.

"The only option left was my firearm," Wilson said.

But when Wilson reached for the handgun on his hip, he claims Brown reached for the weapon and tried to turn it around to shoot the officer.

Wilson was eventually able to wiggle the weapon free and turn it towards Brown, warning: "Get back or I'm going to shoot you".

"You're too much of a p**** to shoot me," Wilson recalls Brown replying.

Brown continued to struggle for the gun, and it jammed the first two times that Wilson tried to pull the trigger. He was successful on the third try, firing the first shot at Brown from inside his vehicle. It was the first time Wilson ever fired his gun in his five-year career as a police officer, he revealed.

He says that first shot startled both himself and Brown, who backed up a few inches.

"We were both in shock. It was shocking having to pull the trigger. It was also shocking that this was the only option that I had," Wilson said.

But he says the shot didn't stop Brown, and that he actually became "even angrier" coming back at the officer again.

Wilson responded by firing more shots, that sent Brown running away from the vehicle,

He says he then called for back up again, saying shots had been fired. That was a call that none of his fellow-officers received. WIlson claims it's because the radio had been turned from channel 1 to 3 in the midst of the struggle with Brown.

Wilson says he then gave chase to Brown, saying it's not his job to "sit and wait" and he needed to keep the teen in sight for when back-up arrived.

That's when Brown turned around and starting coming back towards the officer. Wilson says he also saw the teen reach towards his waistband, and feared Brown may be concealing a weapon - though some witness accounts, including Johnson, said Brown was lifting his hands in surrender.

Remorse and sympathy

Wilson said reports that Brown raised his hands "were incorrect".

"My initial thought was, is there a weapon in there?" Wilson said.

As the teen started "charging" towards him, Wilson said he feared for his life and thought: "Can I shoot this guy? Legally can I? And the answer was I have to, he will kill me if he gets to me."

The officer fired a series a shots, and believed at least one of the bullets hit the teen. He said he then ordered Brown to stop and get on the ground, but that the teen kept running.

Wilson fired a second series of shots and again ordered Brown to get on the ground and said the teen seemed "unfazed".

When Brown was just 15 feet away, Wilson started "backpeddaling" afraid that Brown would lean forward and tackle him and that's when he fired the fatal shots into the teenager's head.

"I saw the face he had go blank," Wilson recalled.

As Brown fell to the ground, Wilson said he landed on his face and that his feet were thrown up into the air because of the speed he was running at.

"I knew immediately that he had passed," Wilson said.

He also denied witness allegations that he appeared to have snapped during the altercation saying "the only emotion I ever felt was fear and then it was survival and training".

Wilson was also adamant that race did not play a role in his actions that day, and that he would have "no question" shot Brown if he were white, given the same circumstances.

While Wilson believes he performed his job correctly, he said there is always remorse involved in the loss of a life and he expressed his sympathies to Brown's family.

"Everyone feels remorse when a life is lost," he said. "I never wanted to take anybody's life that day.

"I'm sorry that their son lost his life. It wasn't the intention of the day. It was what occurred that day and there's nothing you can say that's going to make a parent feel better.

"I just did my job. I did what I was paid to do. I followed training, training took over and training led to what happened."

Wilson is on paid leave while the Ferguson police department conducts an internal review of the shooting to see whether Wilson violated any policies.