Shots fired outside the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department early Thursday morning injured two police officers, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Christine Byers first reported in a tweet early Thursday morning.
No suspects have been described by police KSDK News reports. Byers later tweeted that the officers were from the St. Louis County Police Department and Webster Groves Police Department.
Officers shot tonight in #Ferguson were from STL County PD and Webster Groves PD, police source says
— Christine Byers (@ChristineDByers) March 12, 2015
Dispatch reporter Susan Weich later tweeted that a witness told her one of the officer was “shot in the face.”
Witness said one of cops shot in face in #Ferguson
— Susan Weich (@susan_weich) March 12, 2015
The Associated Press reported the other officer was hit in the shoulder. The St. Louis County Police Department confirmed to reporters that both officers sustained “serious, but non-life-threatening” injuries.
According to reports, protests occurred following the resignation of Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson on Wednesday. A large group of protesters emerged outside of the Ferguson Police Department immediately before the shootings.
St. Louis County Police Department Chief Jon Belmar told KMOV, “I would have to make an assumption that these shots were directed exactly at my police officers. I think we’ve been very fortunate as we’ve moved forward not to have similar instances like this happen to us.”
“I’ve said all along that we cannot sustain this forever without problems,” he added. “This is a very dangerous environment for the officers to work in regarding the amount of gunfire that we’ve experienced.”
The recent violence against police in Ferguson comes on the heels of the U.S. Justice Department’s report claiming that racial bias among law enforcement is a widespread issue in the small St. Louis County town. Jackson is the sixth official who has been terminated or forced to resign since the DOJ report was released last week.
Ferguson has been the site of many protests — some turning violent — since August, when Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson.