FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) – 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 two girls who were with his son told him he 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, 2014. 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.
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.