Authorities responded to a call for an officer shot late Saturday night around 9:00 pm. St. Louis County Police reported a male police officer from Ferguson shot while he was on routine patrol at the Ferguson Community Center.
The officer was patrolling alone in the police cruiser when he strolled by the Ferguson Community Center, St. Louis County Police said in a statement. He saw a male subject at the rear of the building. When the officer got out of his car to question him, the man ran and the officer gave chase. Then the man spun around with a handgun and fired shots at the officer.
The officer shot back, police said, but there was no indication that he hit the suspect, who ducked into a wooded area, eluding the officer. Ferguson Police searched for the suspect for more than an hour but could not find him. The officer’s wound was not life-threatening, he was released from a local hospital after being treated. The officer described the suspect as slender, black man with dreadlocks.
According to authorities there’s no reason to believe the shooting was connected with the demonstrations over the August police shooting of unarmed African American teen Michael Brown. Although, there were two protests about the happening when the officer was shot.
Brown’s death has generated great emotions among the protestors who demonstrated on the streets have threatened to kill a police officer. The shootings have brought tension between community members in Ferguson, where two-thirds of the residents are black, but only three of the city’s 53 police officers are African American.