FERGUSON, Missouri — A tense calm has descended on Ferguson, Missouri, after two police officers were shot outside the city's police department in an attack that left both officers and protesters shocked. While authorities search for a suspect, questions remain as to how the community can move forward from months of violence.

Protesters are now calling on Ferguson Mayor James Knowles to step down, and have launched a bid for his recall. A group of five residents moved that process forward on Friday by filing an official request for his recall to the City Council, calling for a special election.

“We the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri, respectfully request that you resign from the position of mayor of our city before the end of the day March 13, 2015. We cannot describe how disgusted we are with you. We now ask that you vacate the office," read the signed affidavit. "We call on you to do the only honorable thing at this time, resign immediately and per our City Charter."

This is the latest episode in a leadership shakeup that has seen Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson resign earlier this week and other officials step down, following a scathing U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) report that exposed racial bias in the police and court system. Knowles has made it clear he has no intention to resign, and that a recall would be the only way to remove him from office.

"There are ways to remove me if that is the will of the people," Knowles told CNN on Friday.

Kelly Schlereth, a 24-year Ferguson resident who stood outside in the pouring rain on Friday night, held a sign supporting the police. She said it would be a mistake for Knowles to be removed as mayor.

"I don't want to see our mayor gone; we have a good mayor," Schlereth said. "The city of Ferguson needs a chance to respond to the DOJ report; let us move forward."

Ank Ankerson stands in front of the Ferguson Police Department on March 13, 2015. Image: Philip Montgomery

"Things need to change, but I don't think you tear it down to do it," said Ank Ankenbrand, another longtime resident. Ankenbrand was also out in front of the police department on Friday, along with a handful of others, holding an "I Love Ferguson" sign.

The five people who filed the formal letter asking for recall are remaining anonymous at this time. However, they issued a statement through a local activist group that said their request for recall was "due to Mayor Knowles’ failure to adequately rein in an out-of-control police department during the protests following Mike Brown’s death."

“We have always pushed for Mayor Knowles to be recalled, and now in the wake of our current situation, we will fully support local citizens who have chosen to reclaim their city and begin to develop the type of transformation they want to see,” said Juju Jacobs, a local organizer with the Organization for Black Struggle activist group. “We don’t see this as the last thing that needs to happen, but an important step toward restoring accountability to the people of Ferguson.”

However, the community it not simply divided into protesters and officials. Amid all of the tension, life goes on. But for some, the direction forward is less clear.

Kevin Massey, a 47-year-old neighbor of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen fatally shot by white police officer Darren Wilson in August, told Mashable that police, protesters and above all the community have a long road ahead. Looking out over a makeshift memorial for Brown in the drizzling rain on Friday afternoon, Massey, who is black, recounted a gradual change in the community since he moved to Ferguson years ago.

"It wasn't as bad back then," Massey said, commenting on what he sees as violence from the police force. "The police [weren't] so bad back then, but they put the wrong people in power for the wrong reasons."

Kevin Massey, a Ferguson resident. Image: Philip Montgomery

While Massey said changes need to be made in the community, he does not get involved with local protesters who take to Ferguson's streets because "they are doing the right thing, but going about it the wrong way, and it is not getting any results."

"Both sides are wrong. I believe the police are wrong for shooting [Brown]," Massey said, as he looked at the pile of stuffed animals that have amassed at the site where Brown's body lay for hours after the fatal shooting. "I believe the protesters are wrong for reacting the way they do."

Still, Massey added, there remains a deep divide in the community, and he doesn't think a simple change in Ferguson's leadership will help repair it.

"It's them and it's us — that's how it is."