Only a few weeks after the death of an African-American teenager at the hands of the cops threatened to topple the stability in the little town of Ferguson, Missouri, the authorities have reported another round of clashes with citizens.
Local sources say over the weekend two officers were shot, but only one sustained injuries in his arm. Although St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar has sought to distance these incidents from the widespread anger over the murder of Michael Brown, many pundits have warned that the authorities risk attracting the ire of the public if they are viewed to be acting with complicity.
According to a statement by the St Louis Police Department, at 9:10pm on Saturday, an officer who was on patrol confronted a suspect he saw loitering about the premises of the Ferguson Community Center - which was reportedly closed at the time.
"As the officer exited his vehicle in an attempt to find out his reason for being there, the subject began running from the officer. The officer initiated a foot pursuit of the subject. During the foot pursuit, the subject spun toward the officer with a handgun, and fired shots at the officer," the statement reads.
While initial reports indicate that there were two suspects on the scene who were supposedly in the act of robbing the center when the officer arrived. On Monday, a top officer from the local station has told the press that there was only one suspect on the scene and that it is doubtful if the dreadlocked male was robbing the place when the officer approached him.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the injured officer is responding well to treatment. The local police department has since abandoned the search for the suspect in the wooded area which he escaped into after coming up futile for several hours.
In the other incident over the weekend, another officer was shot at about 12:10 am on Sunday as he drove on Interstate 70 near 170. Reports indicate that the off-duty officer was attacked by about three African-American suspects wielding handguns in a car.
According to the official statement, "The officer was travelling in the right lane when a vehicle began passing him on the left. An unknown number of occupants in that vehicle were armed with handguns and began firing multiple shots at the off-duty officer's vehicle. The officer's vehicle was struck numerous times; however it does not appear the officer suffered any gunshot wounds."
Local sources say police set up checkpoints and began searching vehicles on the road shortly after the incident. It is unclear if the officer was targeted by his assailants or if it was a random attack. Officials have disclosed that there was nothing to indicate that the officer who was driving on 170 was a cop at the time of his attack.
Tensions have been swirling in Ferguson over the murder of the 18-years old Brown in the hands of a police officer in August. The parents of Brown have told the press that they are unmoved by the apology of Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson. The boy's father, who goes by the same name as his late son, has insisted that the officer who shot his son - Darren Wilson - should be arrested and tried.
This past weekend President Barack Obama has for the first time openly condemned the shooting of Michael Brown. He noted that the incident has awakened the nation to racial division that "stains the heart of black children" in the country.
