Sparse information is available as the hunt for suspect(s) continues after St Louis County SWAT teams took persons into custody but released them later. Despite the reporting by various media outlets that the two officers were shot with a handgun, if the shots came from a distance of 220 meters or even 125 meters, it seems more likely that they were shot with a rifle and the handgun report is meant to continue to implicate demonstrators and minimize panic about a potential sniping event.
No details have yet been released about the bullet that lodged behind the ear of one of the officers shot or whether it was recovered intact or whether the bullet that passed through the other officer's shoulder was recovered. Ejected shell casings have been recovered but it was unclear whether they were the relevant ones at this writing, with one outlet stating that they were "perhaps" pistol round cases. Determining the difference between lucky and precise shooting still remains open in this instance.
(Reuters) - Investigators are following dozens of leads in the hunt for whoever shot and wounded two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, during a protest rally this week, the head of the St. Louis County police said on Friday.
Police Chief Jon Belmar said that detectives are working around the clock and would not rest until they have resolved the case, which has caused tensions to spike in the St. Louis suburb after weeks of relative calm.
Ferguson, a city with its legacy of racial rancor, has become the focal point of a national debate over race and policing since the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white officer last summer.
"I cannot tell you at this point that an arrest is imminent. There is certainly nobody in custody,” said Belmar, who leads the force in the Missouri county where Ferguson is located.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. denounced the shootings as “heinous and cowardly attacks.”
“This was not someone trying to bring healing to Ferguson,” Mr. Holder said at a news conference in Washington.
Community organizers extended sympathy to the officers who were shot, while trying to keep the focus on their own longstanding complaints...
The officers who were shot were standing side by side, part of a cordon from multiple police departments, keeping protesters away from the police station. There had been as many as 69 officers in the evening, dwindling to about 50 at the time of the shooting, Chief Belmar said.
One of the wounded officers was from the Webster Groves Police Department. He is 32 and a seven-year veteran of the force. The other was from the St. Louis County Police and is 41 with 14 years’ experience, the county police said. Both were treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
The younger officer was shot in the cheekbone, just below his right eye, and the bullet lodged behind his right ear, Chief Belmar said. A bullet struck the other officer in the right shoulder and exited his back on the right side. No officers returned fire. The officers were released from a hospital Thursday morning.
Chief Belmar said that people had a right to protest peacefully, but also that “there is an unfortunate association with that gathering” and the shooting.
Witnesses among the demonstrators denied any link to the shootings, saying that they believed the shots originated from the top of a hill about 220 yards directly opposite the station. Chief Belmar did not specify a location but estimated the distance at 125 yards.
“There’s just no way anybody I know did that,” said Bob Hudgins, a protester who is running for City Council. “Nobody’s happy about this today.”