Two people were struck by gunfire during a standoff between riot police and protesters on Sunday night in Ferguson, Missouri, after a day of otherwise peaceful rallies commemorating the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white officer one year ago.
Several volleys of gunshots rang out as police tried to disperse demonstrators blocking traffic and smashing storefront windows along a street that was a flashpoint of last year’s unrest in the St. Louis suburb following the slaying of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
The origin of the gunfire and condition of the two people shot was not immediately known, police said. One of the victims, a black male who looked to be a teenager or young adult, appeared in a Reuters photo to have been badly wounded.
Anniversary commemorations for Brown had begun hours earlier with a peaceful march through the St. Louis suburb after a moment of silence for the teenager, whose death on Aug. 9, 2014, ignited months of demonstrations and a national debate on race and justice.
