The day of demonstrations in Ferguson was to mark the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old man who was shot and killed by officer Darren Wilson.
Advertisement
The officers were not injured. The suspect continued firing as he then ran toward a fenced area, but was shot multiple times by police, according to St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar.
“The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tirelessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger”, he said in the statement”.
Nixon, who had deployed the National Guard to quell violence last year, did not make any mention of additional security for rallies on Monday planned in and around Ferguson. He is being held on $100,000 bond. All 10 are felonies.
Police take cover as a barrage of gunfire erupts along West Florissant Street on August 9, 2015, in Ferguson, Missouri.
A state of emergency has been declared in the US city where an unarmed black teenager was shot by a white police officer a year ago.
One officer was hit in the face with a brick, while two others were pepper sprayed.
Harris, Jr. was reportedly a classmate of Michael Brown.
Belmar added that the shooting took place after two separate groups in the vicinity traded gunfire – between 40 and 50 shots.
Police say Mr Harris was armed and opened fired, but his father has described their account of events as “a bunch of lies”. Harris said witnesses told him his 18-year-old son was “running away from the situation, and police ended up shooting him”.
Tyrone Harris Jr. lying critically wounded by police.
His father, Tyrone Harris, spoke out on the incident confirming his son’s identity. He had thanked supporters before the march for not allowing his son’s death to be “swept under the carpet”.
St Louis County Police said several gunshots fired by at least two unknown persons were reported. “They weren’t protesters; they were criminals”, he said.
The suspect had a semi-automatic 9 mm gun that was stolen last year from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Belmar said.
Four plainclothes police officers who were involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave.
The shooting happened around 11:15pm. However, the government issued a report that found the Ferguson Police Department and the city’s municipal court had engaged in a “pattern and practice” of discrimination against African Americans. At a 2:30 a.m. local press conference, Belmar dismissed the notion that those doing the shooting could be called protesters. Reached by telephone, French said that prior to the shooting, he saw signs of looting and violence, including a newspaper reporter from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who had been beaten and robbed, and a broken window at a local business.
Some protest groups were critical of police.
Advertisement
The officers were not wearing body cameras at the time of the incident, police said.
