[UPDATED] Two Police Officers Shot In Ferguson During Continuing Demonstrations

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 12, 2015 1:15PM

After the shooting<br>

During the protests<br/>

Two police officers were shot last night in Ferguson, Missouri in the waning hours of continuing demonstrations following the resignation of police chief Thomas Jackson. The New York Times reports the shots were fired around midnight, sending both police and protesters for cover, striking one officer in the shoulder and another in the face. Update below: Photograph of one of the officer's bloody head guard was released.

Both officers, neither of whom were from the Ferguson Police Department, were taken to a local hospital and treated for serious but not life threatening injuries. Speaking at a news conference in front of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where the officers were being treated, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said:

“I have said all along that we cannot sustain this forever without problems. That's not an indictment on everybody that's out there, certainly expressing their First Amendment rights. But we have seen, in law enforcement, that this is a very, very, very dangerous environment for the officers to work in.”

According to CNN, several witnesses say the shots came from a nearby hill, at least 100 feet away from where demonstrators and police were facing off. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports at least two people were arrested prior to the shooting. Some 25 people were kept at the scene for about two hours after the shooting to give statements to police.

The protests and shootings happened hours after Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson tendered his resignation yesterday, the latest in a series of resignations and firings of local officials after a federal investigation highlighted the widespread racism of local law enforcement. “I believe this is the appropriate thing to do at this time," Jackson said in an interview with the St. Louis Post Dispatch. "This city needs to move forward without any distractions."

Jackson’s handling of the shooting death of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson and the paramilitary tactics used by police in the subsequent demonstrations drew international ire. He is the sixth local official to either step down or be fired in the wake of the Department of Justice investigation. According to Common Dreams, Judge Ronald Brockmeyer, who was also named in the DOJ report for dismissing traffic tickets for himself and his associates while filling the city coffers with millions in fines and fees for others, stepped down on Monday. Three other Ferguson employees were either terminated or resigned over racist emails highlighted in the investigation.

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III did not criticize Jackson, calling him “honorable,” and saying the chief came to his decision “after a lot of soul searching.” “It's hard for us to have him leave, but he felt this was the best way forward,” said Knowles. Jackson will keep his health insurance for the next year and receive a severance payment of about $96,000.

While some local officials and community members were pleased, they believe much more needs to happen to create real change within Ferguson. “Many of us have been calling for his resignation for many months now," St. Louis Alderman Antonio French told the LA Times. “After the DOJ report and some of the specific details of how his department operated…it frankly was a matter of time.”

Ferguson Township Committeewoman Patricia Bynes said:

“We don't need new faces to the same culture, so I'm not ready to jump up and down yet to celebrate his resignation... Something structurally needs to change...We don’t need another, 'Good ol' boys,' network.”

UPDATE, 10 a.m.: National reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Matt Pearce, posted on Twitter that St. Louis County police have confirmed with him that both officers shot last night have been treated and released from the hospital. He also shared a graphic photograph St. Louis County Police released from the crime scene from last night's shooting:

It is also being reported that St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar was surprised by the angry crowds that were demonstrating in Ferguson Wednesday night. Belmar was quoted as saying “I didn’t really expect the amount of agitation at times that we saw last night out of the crowd based on the news that happened yesterday.” Belmar also stated the following:

“Ladies and gentlemen, we were very close to having happened what happened in the NYPD with Officer Ramos and Officer Liu.”

Belmar's statement was referencing the two NYPD officers who were fatally shot while sitting in a squad car last year. In that incident, the shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who was feared by his family, had also shot his girlfriend in Maryland earlier in the day. Brinsley was killed by police.