Two police officers are hospitalized after being shot outside the Ferguson Police Department. One officer was hit in the face, the other in the shoulder. Protesters gathered there after the police chief announced his resignation on Wednesday. VPC
(Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP)
FERGUSON, Mo. — Two St. Louis County Police officers were shot outside the Ferguson Police Department early Thursday, according to acting Ferguson police chief Lt. Col. Al Eickhoff.Bob Hoehn, a KSDK-TV photographer, reported two police officers were loaded into ambulances. One was taken immediately to Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a Level 1 trauma center and the teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine. The other officer was initially treated on the scene. In a news conference outside the hospital around 2 a.m. CT, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said one officer was shot in the shoulder and one was shot in the face. Both officers were conscious, he said. "I don't know who did the shooting, to be honest with you," Belmar said, adding that he could not provide a description of the suspect or gun. He said his "assumption" was that, based on where the officers were standing and the trajectory of the bullets, "these shots were directed exactly at my officers." He said that the officer shot in the face was 32-year-old from nearby Webster Groves while the officer shot in the shoulder was a 41-year-old from St. Louis County.
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U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay of Missouri's 1st District called the violence "just awful." And asked "everyone to join me prayers for both officers shot in Ferguson tonight." Wednesday evening police in riot gear stood outside the police department while people protested in the streets. Some protesters complained in tweets that the uniforms the officers were wearing were from other jurisdictions. St. Louis County Alderman posted a Vine showing people crawling on the ground after police reacted to the gunshots. An Aug. 9 shooting of unarmed African-American teen Michael Brown by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson set off weeks of unrest and violence in the St. Louis suburb. Wilson was not charged in Brown's killing and the Justice Department found no reason to bring civil rights charges against him. But a Justice Department review found the Ferguson Police Department engaged in a broad pattern of racially biased enforcement that permeated the city's justice system, including the use of unreasonable force against African-American suspects. The report also criticized the city's municipal court system.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday Ferguson officials announced Police Chief Thomas Jackson, whose department received scathing criticism from the Justice Department for racially biased policing, will resign March 19. Jackson, 57, became the third top city official to leave following the release of the Justice Department report. Judge Ronald Brockmeyer and City Manager John Shaw resigned earlier this week. Eickhoff is serving as acting chief until the city completes a nationwide search for a new police chief, the city said in a press release. Jackson will receive a severance payment of approximately $100,000 and health insurance for one year.
Contributing: Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY; Associated Press
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U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay of Missouri's 1st District called the violence "just awful." And asked "everyone to join me prayers for both officers shot in Ferguson tonight." Wednesday evening police in riot gear stood outside the police department while people protested in the streets. Some protesters complained in tweets that the uniforms the officers were wearing were from other jurisdictions. St. Louis County Alderman posted a Vine showing people crawling on the ground after police reacted to the gunshots. An Aug. 9 shooting of unarmed African-American teen Michael Brown by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson set off weeks of unrest and violence in the St. Louis suburb. Wilson was not charged in Brown's killing and the Justice Department found no reason to bring civil rights charges against him. But a Justice Department review found the Ferguson Police Department engaged in a broad pattern of racially biased enforcement that permeated the city's justice system, including the use of unreasonable force against African-American suspects. The report also criticized the city's municipal court system.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday Ferguson officials announced Police Chief Thomas Jackson, whose department received scathing criticism from the Justice Department for racially biased policing, will resign March 19. Jackson, 57, became the third top city official to leave following the release of the Justice Department report. Judge Ronald Brockmeyer and City Manager John Shaw resigned earlier this week. Eickhoff is serving as acting chief until the city completes a nationwide search for a new police chief, the city said in a press release. Jackson will receive a severance payment of approximately $100,000 and health insurance for one year.Contributing: Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY; Associated Press
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