Two Police Officers Shot Outside Ferguson Police Station
FERGUSON, Mo., March 12 (UPI) — Two police officers were shot outside the Ferguson Police station early Thursday as demonstrations, which began as celebratory, quickly turned violent.
The two officers — one from St. Louis County and the other from the nearby town of Webster Groves — were, according to local officials, in serious condition. Both officers were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were conscious, authorities said.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the shots were “directed exactly at my police officers.”
“I don’t know who did the shooting, to be honest with you,” he said.
Demonstrators gathered around the Ferguson police station on Wednesday night after embattled Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced his resignation. The move came as part of the shakeup resulting from a highly critical Department of Justice report in the wake of the shooting of black teen Michael Brown by white police officer, Darren Wilson, in August.
Police from neighboring jurisdictions were brought into the area to watch the demonstrators on Wednesday. As the peaceful protest was beginning to disburse early Thursday, shots were fired, police said.
“All of a sudden, I heard at least four or five shots ring out,” witness Markus Loehrer told CNN. “It took me at least 30 seconds of watching before I realized there was an officer down. We are not there to shoot cops, we don’t like violence. So we did what anybody would do — we ran away.”
Police said the St. Louis County police officer was struck in the shoulder and the Webster Groves officer was hit in the face, but eyewitness accounts said the Webster Groves officer was hit in the shoulder.
