President Obama’s call for “reflection and understanding” following the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown was not heeded last night. St. Louis County police fired on an allegedly armed man not far from a third straight night of protests. Officers were responding to reports of men in masks with shotguns around 1 a.m., the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, when they saw “multiple subjects running.” One turned back and pointed a handgun, according to the police account, and was left critically injured.
And so the Michael Brown protesters’ defiant gesture and chant — “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” — takes on still more resonance.
A mile away and less than an hour earlier, in a separate incident, a woman was shot in the head during what police suspect was a drive-by shooting. She’s suspected to survive.
Protesters met again at the local QuikTrip gas station, the store looted and burned during chaotic demonstrations on Sunday, which has become the de facto center of the action. St. Louis police reportedly used tear gas once again to the disperse the crowds.
The place looks like a war zone, and there’s no resolution in sight.
