FERGUSON, Mo. — A suspect who authorities say opened fire on officers in Ferguson, Missouri, on the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death was critically wounded when the officers shot back, St. Louis County’s police chief said Monday.
But the father of the suspect, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr., called the police version of events “a bunch of lies.” He said his son was unarmed and had been drawn into a dispute involving two groups of young people.
St. Louis County prosecutors on Monday announced 10 charges against Harris — five counts of armed criminal action, four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and a firearms charge. All 10 are felonies.
It was not immediately clear if the latest police shooting of a black suspect would spur renewed unrest in Ferguson, the site of many protests — some violent — in the aftermath of Brown’s death on Aug. 9 last year. Protest groups were quick to criticize the police response to protesters who gathered late Sunday along West Florissant Avenue.
St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger issued a state of emergency, a move that authorizes county Police Chief Jon Belmar to take control of police emergency management in and around Ferguson.
The anniversary of Brown’s killing, which cast greater scrutiny on how police interact with black communities, has sparked days of renewed protests, though until Sunday they had been peaceful and without any arrests.
PHOTOS: Police: Man shot at Ferguson protest critically injured
Elsewhere, about 50 protesters were in custody after being arrested while blocking the entrance to a federal courthouse in downtown St. Louis, where they demanded federal action to stop what they consider racially abusive policing. Those in custody included scholar and civil rights activist Cornel West.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference that officers had been tracking the suspect, who they believed was armed, during a protest marking the death of Brown, the black, unarmed 18-year-old whose killing by a white Ferguson police officer touched off the national “Black Lives Matter” movement.
At the height of what was already a rowdy protest in which rocks and bottles were thrown at officers, gunshots rang out from the area near a strip of stores, including some that had been looted. Belmar believes the shots came from about six different shooters. It was not clear what prompted the exchange, but Belmar said the groups had been feuding.
At one point, the suspect crossed the street and apparently spotted the plainclothes officers arriving in an unmarked van with distinctive red and blue police lights, Belmar said. He said the suspect shot into the hood and windshield.
The officers fired back at him from inside the vehicle and then pursued him on foot when he ran.
The suspect fired on officers again after he became trapped in a fenced-in area, the chief said, and all four officers fired back. He was struck and fell, Belmar said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital, where Belmar said he was in “critical, unstable” condition.
Tyrone Harris Sr. told The Associated Press his son was a close friend of Michael Brown and was in Ferguson on Sunday night to pay respects.
Harris said his son got caught up in a dispute among two groups of young people and was “running for his life” after gunfire broke out. He said his son had no weapons.
“My son was running to the police to ask for help, and he was shot,” he said. “It’s all a bunch of lies … They’re making my son look like a criminal.”
The father said he spoke with two girls who were with his son.
The suspect had a semi-automatic 9 mm gun that was stolen last year from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Belmar said.
None of the officers was seriously injured. All four have been put on administrative leave, which is standard procedure. They were not wearing body cameras, Belmar said.
The shooting happened around 11:15 p.m. Sunday, sending protesters and reporters running for cover.
Belmar waved off any notion that the people with the weapons were part of the protest.
“They were criminals. They weren’t protesters,” he said.
Some protest groups were critical of police.
“It was a poor decision to use plainclothes officers in a protest setting because it made it difficult for people to identify police officers, which is essential to the safety of community members,” Kayla Reed, a field organizer with the Organization of Black Struggle, said in a statement.
Early on Monday, another reported shooting drew officers to an apartment building in the area, where police said a 17-year-old was shot in the chest and shoulder while a 19-year-old was shot in the chest.
• Associated Press writer Jim Suhr and photographer Jeff Roberson contributed to this report.
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