Two Ferguson police officers were shot last night (Mar.11) shortly after midnight as demonstrators gathered outside of the Ferguson Police Department after police chief Thomas Jackson announced that he would be resigning from the force, Yahoo reports.
According to the St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, a 32-year-old officer from Webster Groves was shot in the face while a 41-year-old officer from St. Louis County was shot in the shoulder. They were both conscious when taken to the hospital. Belmar says he does not know who the shooter could be.
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“I saw the officer go down and the other police officers drew their guns while other officers dragged the injured officer away,” said 20-year-old Marciay Pitchford, who was outside of the department with protestors. “All of a sudden everybody started running or dropping to the ground.”
Jackson, whose resignation will take effect on Mar. 19th, is the sixth employee to be fired or to resign after Darren Wilson was not charged with civil rights charges regarding the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown. In a report done by the Justice Department, it was also found that there was racial discrimination within the Ferguson police force.
Jackson served as the city’s police chief for five years.