Witnesses say young man was knocked down and shots rang out as people gathered two years after notorious police shooting of unarmed black teenager

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Gunfire broke out after a protester was knocked down by a car during a demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri, on the second anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, witnesses said.

A video posted online shows a car hitting a young man who was standing in the road, knocking him to the kerb. Onlookers gather around and call for help. About a minute later, gunfire erupts.

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“A lady came down and hit a protester – knocked the shoes off his feet,” said Sharon Cowan, who was at the scene. “Hit him and he rolled and he bounced.”

The man was put into a private car to be taken to a hospital, she said.

Heather De Mian, who frequently live streams protests in the St Louis area, said she screamed when the man was hit.

“Then when the bullets flew, I started screaming some more,” she said.

Ferguson spokesman Jeff Small confirmed that police responded to reports of gunfire and said the city would provide an update later on Wednesday.

Robert Cohen (@kodacohen) Man hit by car, shots fired at #MikeBrown protest in #Ferguson. 2 people taken to hospital. pic.twitter.com/8lIu6erByl

Witnesses told an Associated Press reporter that the car sped through a group of protesters during the demonstration marking two years since the unarmed black 18-year-old’s fatal shooting by a white police officer. They said the car struck a young man so hard that he flew into the air.

The incident disrupted what had been a peaceful gathering on Tuesday night.



Earlier in the day a few hundred people gathered for a memorial service and moment of silence along Canfield Drive at the spot where Brown was fatally shot by officer Darren Wilson after a confrontation on 9 August 2014.

A state grand jury declined to press charges against Wilson and the US justice department later cleared him, concluding that he had acted in self-defence. He resigned in November 2014.

Brown’s death led to months of sometimes violent protests in Ferguson. It was also was a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, which rebukes police treatment of minorities and has grown following several other killings by police of black men and boys, such as Tamir Rice in Cleveland and Philando Castile in Minnesota.

Brown’s father, also named Michael Brown, said in a brief speech during the memorial service that the anniversary was a sad day for him and his family, and for the world.

“My son built families up, opened the eyes of the world and let them know this ain’t right,” he said. “This color is not a disease. This color is beautiful. Black is beautiful.”

The 2014 shooting also led to a justice department investigation that found patterns of racial bias in Ferguson’s police and municipal court system. The federal agency and the city agreed in 2016 to make sweeping changes.

This August more than 60 organisations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement released a list of six demands and 40 recommendations for how to achieve policing and criminal justice reforms.

Brandy Shields, 19, went to school with Brown and remembered him as a kid who “never got into trouble”. Shields comforted a little girl who was crying at the service.

“It’ll get better,” Shields told the child. “We have to make it better, but it’ll get better.”

Associated Press contributed to this report