Man in critical condition after being shot by police in Ferguson
By Loic Hofstedt
Ferguson (United States) (AFP) – Tensions flared in the US city of Ferguson late Sunday as looters targeted at least one store following a day of somber remembrance to mark the anniversary of the police shooting of an unarmed black teen.
A crowd of about 50 people looted a beauty store in the St. Louis suburb and protesters grew confrontational late in the evening. There was no immediate word of any arrests.
Demonstrators had taken to the streets of Ferguson to mark the anniversary of 18-year-old Michael Brown’s death in a fateful encounter on August 9, 2014 with officer Darren Wilson.
The shooting — and a subsequent decision not to indict Wilson — led to violent unrest and set off nationwide protests and intense scrutiny of heavy-handed police tactics in a series of cases that ended in the deaths of unarmed blacks.
Sunday’s day of remembrance had been peaceful until a handful of protesters grew rowdy later in the evening. 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.
Man in critical condition after being shot by police in Ferguson
Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY4:32 a.m. EDT August 10, 2015
FERGUSON, Mo. — A man was in a critical condition Monday after exchanging gunfire with police during protests marking the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters the suspect is in a critical, unstable condition in a local hospital and undergoing surgery.
Speaking at a new conference, he said the shooting occurred after plainclothes detectives monitored an individual in the crowd who they believed was armed, and who was believed to have three or four armed acquaintances.
The suspect crossed the street and fired on the officers’ vehicle. Police returned fire and the suspect was shot, Belmar said.
Belmar said the shot man was involved in an earlier shooting nearby that involved two groups exchanging gunfire.
“There is a small group of people who are intent on making sure we don’t have peace. That’s unfortunate,” he said. “We can’t afford to have this kind of violence.”
He said there were probably six different shooters involved in the shoot-out that preceded the officer-involved shooting.
The eruption of violence came as tensions between police and protesters mounted during the night after a day of peaceful protests. Before the shots rang out, some protesters began screaming at the line of police. Officers then moved to close the streets and demanded demonstrators move off the road.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/10/ferguson-protest-shooting/31397841/
