2 Officers ‘Ambushed’ and Shot in Ferguson

12 Mar, 2015

Two officers were shot in front of the Ferguson Police Department early Thursday while demonstrators were gathered across the street – an attack the county police chief described as “an ambush” that could easily have killed both men.

The shots were fired just as a small crowd of protesters began to break up after holding a demonstration in the wake of the resignation of the Ferguson police chief, who stepped down Wednesday.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said one officer was shot in the face, just below his right eye, with the bullet lodging behind his ear. The other officer was hit in the shoulder, and the bullet came out his back.

Both men were expected to recover without suffering any long-term damage, Belmar said, but the wounds might have been mortal.

“We could have buried two police officers next week over this,” he said.

The 32-year-old officer who was shot in the face was from nearby Webster Groves. The second officer, 41, came from the St. Louis County force.

Both were taken to a hospital, where Belmar said they were conscious.

Authorities believe the shots came from a handgun fired about 120 yards away. There were no suspects in custody.

Based on where the officers were standing and the trajectory of the bullets, the shots appeared to be aimed directed at the police, Belmar said.

“This is really an ambush,” he said. “You are basically defenseless. It is hard to guard against.”

Asked whether the gunman played any part in the protest, Belmar said he was “very confident that whoever did this was there for the wrong reasons.”

“There was an unfortunate association with the gathering,” he added.

The protest unfolded just hours after Ferguson announced that Police Chief Tom Jackson would resign. His resignation followed that of City Manager John Shaw earlier in the week.

The protest was a familiar scene in Ferguson, which saw similar and much larger demonstrations after the shooting death of black 18-year-old Michael Brown last summer by city police officer Darren Wilson. A state grand jury cleared Wilson, who is white, in November, sparking further protests, looting and fires. But Thursday morning was the first time an officer at a protest had been shot.

Jackson was the sixth employee to resign or be fired after a Justice Department report last week cleared Wilson of civil rights charges in the shooting. Wilson has also resigned. A separate Justice Department report released the same day found a profit-driven court system and widespread racial bias in the city police department.

Jackson oversaw the Ferguson force for nearly five years before the shooting that stirred months of unrest across the St. Louis region and drew global attention to the predominantly black city of 21,000.

In addition to Jackson, Ferguson’s court clerk was fired last week and two police officers resigned. The judge who oversaw the court system also resigned, and the City Council on Tuesday agreed to a separation agreement with Shaw, the city manager.

AP 

Image @abc7newsBayArea

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