Police stand guard moments after gun shots were fired outside the City of Ferguson Police Department
Reports are sketchy at this time, but two police officers
were shot early Thursday morning at a protest in Ferguson, Missouri:
Two police officers were hit by gunfire early Thursday outside the Ferguson police department.
The shots were fired as police were confronting protesters who had gathered outside the police station.
Ferguson Lt. Col. Al Eickhoff said he didn't think either of the officers were from his department. He also didn't know the extent of their injuries. Eickhoff was not at the scene at the time of the shooting but he said he was headed there.
A police source said one of the officers is a St. Louis County officer and the other a Webster Groves officer.
Will update as more details emerge.
Wed Mar 11, 2015 at 11:28 PM PT: There are very few details available at this time. CNN is reporting that it was a relatively small protest, held in the wake of Wednesday's (long overdue) resignation of Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, and was in fact winding down when four to five shots were fired. Witnesses say the shots appeared to come from a "grassy area" away from the protest itself.
Wed Mar 11, 2015 at 11:29 PM PT: Good news for everyone involved: According to CNN, police sources are telling them that both officers are expected to survive.
Wed Mar 11, 2015 at 11:31 PM PT:
To be crystal clear: Three witnesses tell me shots at Ferg. PD didn't come from demonstrators, but up Tiffin Ave. on the hill by Andy Wurm.
— @mattdpearce
Wed Mar 11, 2015 at 11:41 PM PT: Oh my God ... freaking Fox News has Mark Fuhrman on the phone, giving his .02 on police "always being on the defense" instead of offense and people "taking advantage of them" ... "out of control protests" ... and that there is "nothing to stop their conduct."
Wed Mar 11, 2015 at 11:58 PM PT: St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar just said that one officer was shot in the shoulder, the other in the face. Again, thankfully, both are expected to survive. Belmar also said, as had been reported earlier, that the shots did not come from where the protesters were.
12:35 AM PT: Amateur video of the shooting is below the fold.