Ferguson Police Shooting: Witnesses Stunned as Shots Ring Out
Two police officers were wounded in the gunfire.
— -- Witnesses were stunned as shots rang out on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri early this morning, a shooting that left two police officers wounded.
The gunman remains on the loose.
Freelance journalist Bradley Rayford was nearby when the shooting occurred.
“As we were about to pack our cameras up, we hear what we thought were fireworks up the street,” Rayford told ABC News. “Turns out, happened three more times. It was gunfire because we saw the muzzle fire from the gun up top of the street.
“It was kind of traumatic. ... I'm still kind of in shock because of it.”
The shooting and its aftermath were captured on social media and streaming video, tense moments experienced in real-time.
St. Louis County Police Chief John Belmar, speaking to media members this morning, said the shots came from an undetermined location north or northwest of the Ferguson Police Department building. The protests followed the resignation of the city’s police chief, Tom Jackson.
“I don't know who did the shooting, to be honest with you," Belmar said, adding he could not provide a description of the suspect or gun.
Belmar said his assumption was that, based on where the officers were standing and the trajectory of the bullets, the officers were targeted.
“These were shots that were parallel to the ground, not up in the air, and not at. They weren't skip shots and we have to make an assumption that these shots were directed exactly at my police officers,” Belmar said.