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Video: Gunfire erupts during Ferguson protest, officer returns shots

St. Louis County Police say an officer who came under heavy gunfire returned shots amid a protest in Ferguson

The Associated Press

FERGUSON, Mo. — St. Louis County Police say an officer who came under heavy gunfire returned shots amid a protest in Ferguson.

The department confirmed the shooting in a statement on Sunday night, less than an hour after shots rang out as hundreds had gathered to mark the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. The police department tweeted that at least two unmarked cars were hit by gunfire.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether any one was injured in the shooting, but minutes after the shots were heard, an Associated Press photographer saw a man lying face down, covered in blood, behind a boarded-up restaurant. It wasn’t immediately clear how badly the man was injured.

Later, an AP reporter saw a woman overcome with grief. Friends were consoling her. She screamed: “Why did they do it?” Another woman nearby fainted.

A man nearby said, “They killed my brother.”

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press