Ferguson: 2 police officers shot after police chief resigns
Controversy in Ferguson
Story highlights
- Protester: "Shame that somebody had to take advantage of this great group"
- Protesters say the shots did not come from their crowd but from a nearby hill
- Neither of the two officers shot was from the Ferguson police department
(CNN)Two police officers standing guard outside the Ferguson, Missouri, police department were shot early Thursday morning, spurring a manhunt for those responsible and stirring questions about what's next for protesters who have been a constant presence in the city since Michael Brown's death in August.
Dozens of demonstrators came out again on Wednesday night, reacting to the announcement hours earlier ofFerguson police Chief Thomas Jackson's resignation. The few who remained were dispersing when shots rang out just after midnight -- fired from a hill a distance away from where the protesters had gathered, according to witnesses.
DeRay McKesson told CNN he has no "indication that leads me to believe that this was a protester who did it," saying he and fellow protesters believe in nonviolence.
Yet St. Louis County police Chief Jon Belmar believes someone targeted the police.
"These police officers were standing there, and they were shot just because they were police officers," he said.
New video captures gunfire in Ferguson 01:14
The Ferguson Police Department has been the focus of protests since one of its officers, Darren Wilson, fatally shot Brown on August 9 -- after which a local grand jury declined to indict Wilson on any charges and federal prosecutors decided not to press civil rights charges.
Neither of the two officers shot early Thursday, however, was with the Ferguson police.
One, a 14-year veteran of the St. Louis County Police Department, was shot in the shoulder. The other, a 7-year veteran of the Webster Groves Police Department, was struck in the face, Belmar said.
Both officers were in serious condition Thursday morning. Authorities described their injuries as non-life threatening.
From calm to chaos
For some protesters, Wednesday was a day to celebrate: They'd called for Jackson's resignation for months, and finally it was happening.
But for others, it was not enough. They demanded more changes, including disbanding the entire police department and the resignation of Mayor James Knowles. The now familiar racial overtones hung over the protests, a result of the fact that Wilson is white while Brown was black, as well as the U.S. Justice Department report that found a pattern of racial discrimination in the Ferguson Police Department.
Some chanted, "Racist cops have got to go." Others held signs with slogans like "They don't really care about us!" and "Black lives matter."
"It was a great group (with) great, great energy," protester Markus Loehrer said.
Law enforcement personnel from multiple departments around the area stood in front, as they have on many other nights the past few months.
Whatever the demonstrators' mindset, they turned out in the highest numbers since November, when a St. Louis County decided not to press any charges against Wilson. Still, the crowd was relatively small compared to the peak of the protests in the immediate aftermath of Brown's death.
Those still there just after midnight were starting to leave when gunfire erupted "no less than 100 feet" away from the crowd of protesters, Kayla Reed said.
McKeeson, who was at the base of the hill where he and others say the bullets came from, heard about four shots total.
Several police gathered around their wounded comrades, while others took cover wherever they could and drew their guns, as seen in photos taken outside the police department by the St. Louis American, a CNN affiliate.
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