America
Police shoot down man during Brown anniversary protests
Washington, Aug 10
Police shot down a
young man after he opened fire at them in the US state of Missouri
during protests to mark the first death anniversary of black teenager
Michael Brown who was killed by a white police officer last year, media
reports said on Monday.
St. Louis county Police Chief Jon Belmar
said the man was in a critical and unstable condition, and undergoing
surgery at a hospital in Ferguson, USA Today reported.
A St.
Louis county officer was involved in a shooting after coming under heavy
gunfire, said St. Louis County police on its official Twitter account.
Earlier,
Belmar said the shooting occurred after undercover detectives monitored
an individual in the crowd who they believed was armed and had three or
four possible armed acquaintances.
A shootout also broke out
between two groups and the suspect ran away. He was then spotted by
police detectives in an unmarked vehicle, which began driving towards
them with the emergency lights activated. The police detectives fired at
the vehicle, hitting it a number of times.
The police
detectives then left the vehicle and exchanged gunfire with the man, and
the suspect was shot at multiple times, the police chief added.
At least two unmarked police cars were shot at, officials said.
Brown's
commemoration began on Sunday in front of the Canfield Green apartment
complex, where he was killed, and was followed by a largely peaceful
march through the West Florissant Avenue, the epicentre of protests last
year that followed Brown's death.
At the end of the march, led by Brown's father Michael Brown Sr., the protestors released two doves.
Peaceful
vigils marked the observance of Brown's death anniversary. Attendees
observed four-and-half minutes of silence -- the length of time Brown's
body lay on the street after he was shot.
Subsequently, however, demonstrators blocked several streets and clashed with the police.
It was during this time that gunshots were heard, according to various media reports.
White
police officer Darren Wilson killed 18-year-old African-American
Michael Brown on August 9, 2014 under disputed circumstances, an
incident that led to weeks of unrest.
On November 24, a grand jury decided against indicting Wilson in Brown's death, setting off further unrest in the Missouri city.
In
another case, no charges were levelled against the police officer
involved in the death of Eric Garner, another African-American, who died
in July 2014 after the officer put him in a choke-hold.
The two
cases triggered widespread protests throughout the country and forced
the US government to place racial discrimination by police on top of its
agenda.