Police have arrested a man who participated in a protest outside the Ferguson police station and charged him with two counts of first-degree assault for allegedly firing the shots that wounded two police officers just after midnight on Thursday. Jeffrey Williams, 20, denies he shot at the police officers, saying he fired the gun as part of a different altercation.
“It is possible that he was firing at someone other than the police,” St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch said at a press conference, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Although they may say the possibility exists, officials don’t seem too convinced: “We’re not completely buying that part of it.”
Williams, who allegedly confessed to firing the shots, was on probation for receiving stolen property but failed to report to his probation officer for seven months, notes NBC affiliate KSDK.
Two police officers were wounded just as a peaceful protest was ending last week. The two officers were standing close to each other in front of the Ferguson Police Deparmtent when they were wounded. A 32-year-old officer from the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves was shot in the face, while the other officer, who is 41, was shot in the shoulder. The officers were released from the hospital about nine hours later.
