Two Police Officers Shot outside Ferguson Police Department This Morning

Two police officers were shot and seriously wounded early Thursday outside the police department in Ferguson, Mo. amid protests that followed the resignation of the town’s police chief.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told a news conference just before 2 a.m. local time that a 41-year-old officer from St. Louis County was shot in the shoulder, while a 32-year-old officer from suburban Webster Groves was shot in the face. Both officers were taken to a local hospital. Belmar said both men were conscious, but had no further word about their condition except to describe the injuries as “very serious.”

Belmar said that at least three shots were fired and were believed to come from a house across the street from the police department. He said he did not know who shot the officers.

The shooting was first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

KTVI reported that as many as 200 protesters had gathered outside the police station to demand more changes in the city’s government after the resignation of Police Chief Tom Jackson Wednesday afternoon. The station reported that at least one person had been arrested and that protesters were blocking traffic on nearby Florissant Road. (Read more from “Two Police Officers Shot outside Ferguson Police Department” HERE)

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