Attorney for Ferguson suspect: Officers shot ‘accidentally’

This photo provided by the St. Louis County Police Department on Sunday, March 15, 2015 shows Jeffrey Williams. Williams, 20, is charged with two counts of first-degree assault, one count of firing a weapon from a vehicle and three counts of armed criminal action in connection with the shooting of two police officers who were keeping watch over a demonstration outside the Ferguson Police Department on March 12. (AP Photo/St. Louis County Police Department)

By Associated Press March 17, 2015 4 min read

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) – A man accused of shooting two officers last week in Ferguson was not targeting police or aiming at demonstrators at a late-night protest, his attorney said as he countered an earlier police description of the crime.

Defense attorney Jerryl Christmas also suggested Monday that St. Louis County police may have used excessive force when arresting the suspect, Jeffrey Williams, saying his client had bruises on his back, shoulders and face and a knot on his head.

Police spokesman Brian Schellman called the lawyer’s allegations “completely false,” adding that Williams was seen by a nurse when booked into the county jail, standard procedure for all incoming inmates.

“The nurse released Williams as fit for confinement,” he said.

Williams is accused of shooting the two officers early Thursday outside Ferguson’s police station, which has been the scene of protests since last summer’s fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.