At least 12 buildings go up in flames in violence-torn Ferguson area

[November 25, 2014]  FERGUSON, Mo. (Reuters) - At least a dozen buildings were set on fire in Ferguson, Missouri, most of them destroyed, in a wave of civil unrest following a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager in August, police said on Tuesday.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar also said he personally had heard about 150 gunshots fired during a night of looting, arson and clashes between demonstrators and police that resulted in at least 29 people arrested.

Although no serious injuries have been reported, he said the disturbances Monday night and early Tuesday morning were "much worse" than the unrest that erupted in the immediate aftermath of the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9.

(Reporting by Daniel Wallis and Ellen Wulfhorst; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Eric M. Johnson)

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