UPDATE: Thursday, March 12, 1:55 PM EST
Two men and one woman were questioned in connection to the shooting of two veteran officers in Ferguson, Mo. Wednesday night. A police spokesman has confirmed that the group was seen making a hole in the roof of their Ferguson home.
After being questioned last night, they were released.
According to CNN, the officers shot were also released late Thursday morning. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called the incident a “miracle” compared to the outcry from previous protests in the small town.
Officials also confirmed the 32-year-old Webster Grove officer was shot in his cheek. The 41-year-old officer was shot in the shoulder but the bullet exited in the middle of his back. The Webster Grove officer’s bullet is still lodged behind his ear.
Belmar says shell casings were found near the scene of the incident. Police are currently questioning if the gun was a pistol or a handgun.
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UPDATE: Thursday, March 12, 9:55 AM EST
Officials are continuing to investigate the shooting that left two police officers seriously injured in Ferguson Wednesday night. One officer hails from Webster Groves while the other is a native of St. Louis. Both were taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
According to USA Today affiliate KSDK, the night was described as “fairly uneventful” before the shooting took place after midnight. Three gunshots were fired into a group of police officers as 60 to 70 demonstrators were seen walking away from an area close to the police department.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar stated the 32-year old Webster Groves officer was shot in the face while the 41-year-old St. Louis officer was hit in the shoulder. Belmar claims the men were the targets because they were police officers. Both are seven t0 14 year veterans of the force. He also called the shooting an ambush.
“This is really an ambush, is what it is,” Belmar said. “You can’t see it coming. You don’t understand that it’s going to happen. I would have to make an assumption right now that based on the fact that these officers were standing together, and there were several officers standing right there when this happened, that these were shots that were parallel to the ground, not up in the air, they weren’t skip shots. And I would have to make an assumption that these shots were directed exactly at my police officers,” said Belmar.
Belmar says he’s working on securing the area to prevent another shooting.
During a media brief Thursday morning, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters that one officer was shot in the face and another in the shoulder.
Belmar said that while both officers have “very serious” injuries, they are conscious.
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UPDATE: Thursday, March 12, 2:30 AM EST
According to the St. Louis County Police Department, the two individuals shot in the early hours of Thursday were St. Louis County officers.
Two @SaintLouCo police officers were shot outside the #Ferguson PD shortly after midnight. Gathering more info. Conditions not known.
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) March 12, 2015
The two officers, who have not been identified, are expected to live, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Christine Byers reports.
Police source says both officers are expected to live — Christine Byers (@ChristineDByers) March 12, 2015
A shooter has not been taken into custody and his or her whereabouts are unknown, but numerous witnesses and reporters on the scene note that the shots did not come from the direction of protesters who gathered in front of the police station Wednesday night into Thursday after Police Chief Tom Jackson resigned.
Couple of Ferguson witnesses tell me they heard shots whizzing past their heads. One saw a muzzle flash from up the hill by Andy Wurm’s lot.
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) March 12, 2015
To be crystal clear: Three witnesses tell me shots at Ferg. PD didn’t come from demonstrators, but up Tiffin Ave. on the hill by Andy Wurm.
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) March 12, 2015
STL County police officially confirm to me, two officers shot at Ferguson PD. Five witnesses fell me the shots came from behind protestors.
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) March 12, 2015
The officers’ conditions are unknown at this point.
A wounded officer is put into an ambulance after being shot in front of Ferguson PD on 031215. Pic- @LaurieSkrivan pic.twitter.com/PFOt53plbK
— Lynden Steele (@manofsteele) March 12, 2015
An investigation continues.
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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that two police officers were “hit by gunfire” in Ferguson, Mo. early Thursday morning outside of the town’s police department:
The shots were fired as police were confronting protesters who had gathered outside the police station.
Ferguson Lt. Col. Al Eickhoff said he didn’t think either of the officers were from his department. He also didn’t know the extent of their injuries….
A police source said one of the officers is a St. Louis County officer and the other a Webster Groves officer.
VIDEO from #Ferguson moments after a police officer was reportedly shot about midnight, via @search4swag: pic.twitter.com/HaWK1KduVv
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) March 12, 2015
We’ll bring you more on this story as developments come in.
VIDEO SOURCE: NDN