Video has emerged showing a auto strike a person and subsequent gunfire during a protest to mark the two years since the fatal police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
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Several witnesses said some of the protesters then tried to block the vehicle, which backed up in an effort to escape the demonstrators, a few of whom pulled guns and fired shots, notes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Witnesses said the man was hit with such force that he flew into the air, according to the Associated Press.
Despite video footage of the incident, Ferguson Spokesman Jeff Small said there was no evidence that someone had been struck by a vehicle. There is no word on the mans condition.
Brown’s death sparked months of sometimes violent protests both in Ferguson and across America following subsequent police killings of unarmed black men in several other cities.
Others among the roughly 75 protesters began trying to cut off the auto, which then reversed direction and tried to head north to avoid the crowd, according to several witnesses.
The man who was hit by the auto was taken away from the scene in a private vehicle, thus his condition is now unknown.
The day was marked with peaceful protests until that incident.
At least 20 rounds of bullets erupted around 9:15 p.m., within 30 seconds of the collision along W. Florissant Ave.
Earlier during the same day dozens of people had gather for a memorial service on Michael Brown death anniversary. A grand jury declined to charge Wilson, and he was cleared of civil rights violations by the Justice Department. Also Tuesday night, in St. Louis, a production of the musical “Aida” at The Muny in Forest Park was disrupted for about 25 minutes by about 40 protesters.
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The investigation resulted in an agreement this year between the federal agency and the city calling for sweeping changes.
