Shots fired after Ferguson protests mark one-year anniversary

St. Louis police officers shot and critically wounded a man who fired at them in Ferguson, Missouri on Sunday night, following day-long peaceful protests marking the one-year anniversary of the shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in the St. Louis suburb.

Sunday night’s shooting occurred after a gun battle between rival groups in the center of the Ferguson protests.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the man was shot after he opened fire on an unmarked police SUV. He said plainclothes officers were watching the man in the crowd of protesters.

The man exchanged fire with someone else, fled the scene on foot, and the plainclothes police officers drove the SUV toward the man, who then began shooting at their vehicle.

The man was in critical and unstable condition, and no officers were injured.

The St. Louis Dispatch said Tyrone Harris Sr. identified the man as his 18-year-old son, Tyrone Harris Jr. of St. Louis. The elder Harris said witnesses told him his son did not have a gun and was running away.

Belmar said the man was armed with a stolen 9mm Sig Sauer.

Following the night’s violence, St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger issued a state of emergency Monday, which allows Belmar to take over police emergency management around Ferguson.