‘Asking the public to pray’: St. Louis police officer seriously injured, second injured after shooting in Ferguson | Law and order

ST. LOUIS — Two St. Louis police officers were shot while trying to arrest suspects in Ferguson, leaving one in critical condition, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden said.

Officers were shot around 1 p.m. near West Florissant Avenue and Northwind Estates Drive. They had followed a vehicle linked to a homicide in St. Louis from the night before and were approaching the car when they were shot at, police said.

One officer was shot in the leg and is listed in stable condition. The other was in critical condition after he was hit in the abdomen and needed life-saving surgery, Hayden told reporters Wednesday outside Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where officers were receiving treatment.

Doctors reported that the officer’s condition had improved after surgery Wednesday night, Hayden told reporters.

“He’s not out of the woods by any means,” Hayen said, adding, “Everyone please keep praying. He’s not out of the woods.”

A man in the car police were following was also shot and taken to the hospital for treatment, according to the agency leading the investigation into the shooting, St. Louis County Police.

St. Louis County Police Lt. Col. Steve Sack said he still couldn’t say if it was officers who shot the man in the car. Police did not say if any officers fired their weapons.

Sack said St. Louis police were following the car in connection with a homicide that occurred the night before.

There was one homicide reported overnight by police in the city. A 56-year-old man was shot to death around 1 a.m. Wednesday outside Diana’s Royal Palace, a bar at 4266 West Natural Bridge Avenue in The Ville neighborhood.

In that shooting, police said four men approached a group of four people in the bar’s parking lot, announced a robbery and took property before the shooting. A security guard at the business fired at the suspects.

Chief Hayden said Wednesday afternoon that officers had followed a homicide-related car to Ferguson. As they approached the vehicle, someone inside fired shots, Hayden said.

Four occupants of the shooter’s car were in custody Wednesday, Hayden said. The status of those four was not immediately available.

“I ask the public to pray for our officers,” a visibly upset Hayden said Wednesday afternoon. “This is a very difficult time.”

The shooting comes just two days after two other St. Louis police officers were hospitalized with serious injuries Monday night. In that case, officers were struck by a vehicle on Interstate 64 while responding to a crash. Five others were also injured.

Hayden said one of the officers injured in that crash remains at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

The shooting also comes less than two weeks after St. Louis firefighter Benjamin Polson was killed in the line of duty.

“Officers are here working hard, doing everything they can to keep people safe, and we continue to have these critical incidents,” Hayden said.

Hayden thanked the hospital workers who treated the injured officers.

“If you had been there, you could have seen how feverishly they were working,” Hayden said, adding, “They were clearly desperate trying to make sure our officer is safe.”

The seriously injured officer has been with the department for about 3.5 years, Hayden said. The other injured officer has been with the department for about 2.5 years. They are both in their twenties.

Dozens of police vehicles converged on both the hospital and the scene of the shooting, just north of the Urban League’s Ferguson Community Empowerment Center, Wednesday afternoon.

At least two dozen police cars had arrived at the Barnes Jewish Hospital emergency room by 3 p.m., lined up on the Kingshighway for at least a block. Hospital police were directing pedestrians across the street and away from the building’s emergency entrance.

Dozens of officers, uniformed and plainclothes, were at the entrance, talking, waiting. At approximately 3:05 p.m., Mayor Tishaura O. Jones arrived, and shortly after, a police chaplain said a prayer.

Several aldermen who learned of the shooting during a public safety committee meeting reacted viscerally to the news.

Councilwoman Marlene Davis, who has been on the board since 2007, asked for prayers for the officers who were shot, as well as the two officers who were struck and injured Monday night on Interstate 64.

“Our city is under siege,” Davis said. “We are in a position where people believe they can do whatever they want. … Again, I am very sorry that we are in the situation we are in, but we must do better and may God have mercy on us all.”

Councilman Jeffrey Boyd echoed Davis’ comments.

“Over the past few years, it seems like the community has been very tough on our police officers. And they deserve a lot more respect and they deserve a lot more support,” Boyd said.

The two officers were shot just blocks from where Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson officer, fatally shot Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, on August 9, 2014, sparking months of unrest.

Wilson was not charged and resigned from the police force in November 2014.

As several upset residents walked near the scene, the neighborhood was quiet in the hours after Wednesday’s shooting.

Writers Joel Currier, Robert Patrick, and Austin Huguelet contributed to this report.

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