At least three officers were injured in the melee, one struck in the face with a brick hurled from the crowd and two others pepper-sprayed by protesters, Belmar said. This is no longer a peaceful protest.
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St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said in a statement: “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”.
St. Louis County Police are investigating after an officer-involved shooting in Ferguson after officers came under heavy gunfire.
Protesters march to the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse, Monday, August 10, 2015, in St. Louis. It read, “Racism still lives here #fightback”.
This story has been corrected to show that Harris was shot by a county police officer in Ferguson, not a Ferguson police officer.
Protesters and police had squared off Sunday evening, with officers donning riot gear, including shields. Several protesters were arrested. I have plenty to live for.
Later Monday, another group of protesters blocked part of Interstate 70 in Earth City, Missouri.
“They were criminals. They weren’t protesters”, he said.
“In light of last night’s violence and unrest in the City of Ferguson, and the potential for harm to persons and property, I am exercising my authority as county executive to issue a state of emergency, effective immediately“.
Separately, police said a 17-year-old suspect has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon and one count of resisting arrest after he fired shots near the protesters late Sunday.
The man approached the plainclothes officers, who were in an unmarked police van, and opened fire, Belmar said.
The St. Louis County Police Department said officers shot the teenager after he unleashed a “remarkable amount of gunfire” at police – a characterization the man’s aunt contends is not true. Brian Schellman said.
The plainclothes officers returned fire, striking the suspect, according to Belmar.
Harris is being held on a $250,000 bond, Schellman said. Friends were consoling her. She screamed: “Why did they do it?” He said the girls who were with his son said he had no weapons.
An NAACP official says he doesn’t expect the shooting of a suspect by a county police officer in Ferguson on the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death to escalate into unrest in the St. Louis suburb. A crowd of about 300 people had gathered earlier to mark the anniversary, during which they observed four and a half minutes of silence and released two white doves.
But the new gunfire shifted the focus Sunday night.
Norman said it was heartbreaking that another officer-involved shooting had taken place on the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, and that a young man may have been hurt. He said the suspect shot into the hood and windshield.
Sunday marks one year since Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Prosecutors announced 10 charges against him – five counts of armed criminal action, four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and a firearms charge. They have been placed on administrative leave. “People were ducking”, he said. There were “several people shooting, several rounds shot”.
The shooting of a suspect by plainclothes officers in Ferguson is drawing criticism from protest leaders.
The standoff ended when bursts of gunfire sent police crouching behind their patrol cars and demonstrators rushing for cover. A journalist was attacked and robbed in a parking lot.
Three county police officers suffered minor injured during Sunday night’s events. “We are ready for war!” What prompted the shooting was not clear, but Belmar said two groups had been feuding. He says both are being treated at a hospital and that neither has life-threatening injuries.
The teens were walking on a sidewalk near where Brown was killed a year ago. “They’re making my son look like a criminal”.
“Please get him some help! To see violence happen on this day in this city is really disappointing”. A grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute Wilson, but the shooting touched off a national “Black Lives Matter” movement. “The way the police will respond now will be much more militaristic”.
Wilson retired from the Ferguson Police Department.
She and others were also concerned because police were not wearing body cameras.
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CNN’s Sara Sidner reported from Ferguson; CNN’s Eliott C. McLaughlin and Faith Karimi wrote from Atlanta.
