Cop Shot as Ferguson Simmers

A Ferguson police officer was shot in the arm last night after encountering two men at a community center who ran from him and then opened fire during a foot chase, authorities said. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a media briefing early today that the officer approached the men around 9:10pm because the community center was closed. As the officer approached, the men ran away. When the officer gave chase, "one of the men turned and shot," Belmar said. The officer was shot in the arm and is expected to survive, he said. Belmar did not identify the officer or give further details about his condition. He said the officer returned fire but said police have "no indication" that either suspect was shot.

Belmar said he did not think the officer's shooting was related to two separate protests about Michael Brown's shooting that were going on last night around the same time. Around midnight at the police station, approximately two dozen officers stood near a group of about 100 protesters who mingled on a street corner, occasionally shouting, "No justice; no peace." Nearby, part of a road was closed in town as police conducted a search for the suspects. Brown's parents told the AP yesterday they were unmoved by Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson's apology. Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, said, "yes," when asked if Jackson should be fired, and his father, Michael Brown Sr., said rather than an apology, they would like to see the officer who shot their son arrested. (More Michael Brown stories.)