State of Emergency in Ferguson After Police Shooting, Protests

State of Emergency in Ferguson After Police Shooting, Protests
St. Louis County Police and Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers stand guard as protesters march on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2015. A day of peaceful remembrance marking the anniversary of 18-year-old teen Michael Brown's killing by police in the US city of Ferguson came to a violent end on August 9 as gunfire left at least one protester injured. Michael B. Thomas/AFP/Getty Images
The Associated Press
Updated:

FERGUSON, Mo.—Ferguson was a community on edge again Monday, a day after a protest marking the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death was punctuated with gunshots and police critically wounded a black 18-year-old accused of opening fire on officers.

Police, protesters and people who live and work in the St. Louis suburb were bracing for what nightfall might bring following more violence along West Florissant Avenue, the same thoroughfare that was the site of massive protests and rioting after Brown was fatally shot last year in a confrontation with a white Ferguson officer.

“Of course I’m worried,” said Sandy Sansevere, a retired health care worker who volunteers at the retail store operated by the nonprofit group I Love Ferguson, which was formed after Brown’s death to promote the community. “What scares me are the guns.”

The father of the suspect who was shot called the police version of events “a bunch of lies.” He said two girls who were with his son told him he was unarmed and had been drawn into a dispute involving two groups of young people.