Shots Fired in Ferguson on Anniversary of Michael Brown's Death
by M. ALEX JOHNSON
Multiple shots were fired in Ferguson, Missouri, on Sunday night, the anniversary of the fatal police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
At least one St. Louis County cop was involved in an officer-involved shooting after "coming under heavy gunfire" in Ferguson, police said. The department said that two unmarked cars were fired upon and tweeted photos of windows with apparent bullet holes.
St. Louis County Police urged people to leave West Florissant Avenue — the scene of weeks of sometimes-violent protests last year.
Police didn't immediately say whether there were any injuries, but minutes after the shots were heard, an Associated Press photographer saw a man lying face down, covered in blood, behind a boarded-up restaurant. It wasn't immediately clear how badly the man was hurt.
Later, an AP reporter saw a woman overcome with grief. Friends were consoling her. She screamed: "Why did they do it?" Another woman nearby fainted. A man nearby said, "They killed my brother."
Memorials to Brown's death had largely been peaceful and respectful earlier in the day as hundreds of participants observed 4½ minutes of silence at 12:02 p.m. — symbolic of the 4½ hours that the 18-year-old's body was left in the street on Aug. 9, 2014.
But as umbrellas sprouted in a pouring rain, protesters gathered Sunday night at Ferguson and West Florissant avenues, where police warned them to disperse or face arrest.
County police said that they were trying to prevent business from being damaged but that they were being pelted by objects Sunday night. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported late Sunday night that an ambulance was seen leaving the scene.
Earlier, at the march, some wore T-shirts with likenesses of Brown or messages such as "Please stop killing us" or "Hands up! Don't shoot!" which became a rallying cry during the sometimes-violent protests that followed the shooting a year ago.
But the focus of the weekend has largely been on Brown, who graduated from high school weeks before the shooting and planned to go to trade school to study to become a heating and air conditioning technician.
Relatives and friends described Brown as a quiet, gentle giant who stood around 6-foot-3, weighed nearly 300 pounds and was eager to start technical college. But police said Brown stole items from a convenience store and shoved the owner who tried to stop him on the morning of Aug. 9, 2014. Moments later, he and a friend were walking on Canfield Drive when Wilson, who is white, told them to move to the sidewalk.
That led to a confrontation inside Wilson's police car. It spilled outside, and Wilson claimed that Brown came at him, menacingly, leading to the fatal shooting. Some witnesses claimed Brown had his hands up in surrender. Federal officials concluded there was no evidence to disprove testimony by Wilson that he feared for his safety, nor was there reliable evidence that Brown had his hands up in surrender when he was shot.
The shooting led to protests, some violent, and the unrest escalated again in November when a St. Louis County grand jury determined that Wilson did nothing wrong. He resigned days later. The November riots included fires that burned more than a dozen businesses.
Multiple shots were fired in Ferguson, Missouri, on Sunday night, the anniversary of the fatal police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
At least one St. Louis County cop was involved in an officer-involved shooting after "coming under heavy gunfire" in Ferguson, police said. The department said that two unmarked cars were fired upon and tweeted photos of windows with apparent bullet holes.
St. Louis County Police urged people to leave West Florissant Avenue — the scene of weeks of sometimes-violent protests last year.
Police didn't immediately say whether there were any injuries, but minutes after the shots were heard, an Associated Press photographer saw a man lying face down, covered in blood, behind a boarded-up restaurant. It wasn't immediately clear how badly the man was hurt.
Later, an AP reporter saw a woman overcome with grief. Friends were consoling her. She screamed: "Why did they do it?" Another woman nearby fainted. A man nearby said, "They killed my brother."
Memorials to Brown's death had largely been peaceful and respectful earlier in the day as hundreds of participants observed 4½ minutes of silence at 12:02 p.m. — symbolic of the 4½ hours that the 18-year-old's body was left in the street on Aug. 9, 2014.
But as umbrellas sprouted in a pouring rain, protesters gathered Sunday night at Ferguson and West Florissant avenues, where police warned them to disperse or face arrest.
County police said that they were trying to prevent business from being damaged but that they were being pelted by objects Sunday night. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported late Sunday night that an ambulance was seen leaving the scene.
Earlier, at the march, some wore T-shirts with likenesses of Brown or messages such as "Please stop killing us" or "Hands up! Don't shoot!" which became a rallying cry during the sometimes-violent protests that followed the shooting a year ago.
But the focus of the weekend has largely been on Brown, who graduated from high school weeks before the shooting and planned to go to trade school to study to become a heating and air conditioning technician.
Relatives and friends described Brown as a quiet, gentle giant who stood around 6-foot-3, weighed nearly 300 pounds and was eager to start technical college. But police said Brown stole items from a convenience store and shoved the owner who tried to stop him on the morning of Aug. 9, 2014. Moments later, he and a friend were walking on Canfield Drive when Wilson, who is white, told them to move to the sidewalk.
That led to a confrontation inside Wilson's police car. It spilled outside, and Wilson claimed that Brown came at him, menacingly, leading to the fatal shooting. Some witnesses claimed Brown had his hands up in surrender. Federal officials concluded there was no evidence to disprove testimony by Wilson that he feared for his safety, nor was there reliable evidence that Brown had his hands up in surrender when he was shot.
The shooting led to protests, some violent, and the unrest escalated again in November when a St. Louis County grand jury determined that Wilson did nothing wrong. He resigned days later. The November riots included fires that burned more than a dozen businesses.
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