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 Several volleys of gunshots rang out as police in riot gear tried
to disperse demonstrators blocking traffic and smashing storefront
windows along a street that was a flashpoint of last year's unrest
in the St. Louis suburb after Michael Brown, 18, was slain.
Police later said the gunfire began with two groups of agitators
apparently shooting at each other. When one gunman ran across a
parking lot, four police detectives pulled up in an unmarked vehicle
and confronted him.
The suspect opened fire on the police vehicle and was badly wounded
in the ensuing foot chase and exchange of gunshots with the four
officers, police said.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the unidentified man,
believed to be in his mid-20s, was hospitalized in critical and
unstable condition, and was undergoing surgery.
Speaking to reporters at a predawn news conference on Monday, Belmar
estimated that more than 40 rounds had been unleashed in what he
called "a remarkable amount of gunfire."
 "These were criminals, they weren't protesters," he said of the
shooters. "There is a small group of people out there that are
intent on making sure that we don't have peace that prevails."
Police initially had reported two people shot Sunday night. But
Belmar later said a police officer was struck in the face with a
brick hurled by protesters and a member of the local news media was
also robbed and assaulted in a nearby parking lot in separate
incidents amid Sunday night's turmoil.
Anniversary commemorations for Brown had begun hours earlier with a
peaceful march through the St. Louis suburb after a moment of
silence for Brown, whose death ignited months of demonstrations and
a national debate on race and justice.
The scene changed dramatically after dark with dozens of protesters
converging on West Florissant Avenue, which bore the brunt of last
summer's rioting, chanting "Shut it down" in the midst of a severe
thunderstorm.
A phalanx of helmeted police wearing body armor and carrying shields
moved in. Protesters briefly fell away before regrouping to confront
the line of officers, who ordered them to disperse.
The protesters, locking arms and edging closer to the police cordon,
began throwing water bottles and shouting, "We are ready for war!"
Both sides held their ground while clergy members and activists
circulated between the two sides appealing for calm.
 The face-off was shattered by bursts of gunfire, sending police
crouching behind their patrol cars and demonstrators scurrying for
cover. Helicopters whirred overhead as additional police armed with
assault rifles swarmed the area, some roaring down the street in
armored vehicles in the direction of the gunfire.
Merchants, some armed, stood guard outside their businesses early
Monday after the disturbances, which unfolded around the corner from
where Brown was gunned down on Aug. 9, 2014, by officer Darren
Wilson.
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Brown's death - and a grand jury decision to spare Wilson from
criminal charges for shooting him - sparked a prolonged wave of
demonstrations in Ferguson last year that boiled over into rioting
and arson at times and spawned sympathy rallies across the country.
It also sparked greater scrutiny of racial bias within the U.S.
criminal justice system, giving rise to the "Black Lives Matter"
movement that gained momentum from other high-profile slayings of
unarmed minorities by white police in cities such as New York,
Baltimore, Los Angeles and Cincinnati.
DOVES, THEN GUNFIRE
The unrest that erupted Sunday night was in marked contrast to a day
of mostly subdued, peaceful commemorations in Ferguson and
elsewhere.
White doves were released after 4-1/2 minutes of silence to
represent the roughly 4-1/2 hours that Brown's body lay in the
middle of the street after he was shot. A crowd of about 1,000 then
embarked on a silent march through Ferguson to honor Brown and
others killed in confrontations with police.
Another name was added to that list on Friday when unarmed
19-year-old Christian Taylor, a black college student, was shot dead
by a white police officer investigating a burglary at a car
dealership in Arlington, Texas.
A federal review of Brown's slaying found that officer Wilson acted
lawfully. However, it also determined that Ferguson's predominantly
white police department had for years violated the rights of the
city's black population.
The Justice Department report found police were singling out
African-Americans for arrests and ticketing, in part to raise
revenue for the city. It also found a pattern of excessive force,
including the use of attack dogs and electric stun guns, by police
against unarmed black citizens.
The city's police chief, city manager and municipal court judge all
left their jobs following the report.
The anniversary weekend in Ferguson was also marred by an apparently
unrelated drive-by shooting on Sunday afternoon a few blocks away
from a church as marchers were approaching, police said. One person
was wounded in the foot.
(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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