Reports: Two Police Officers Shot In Ferguson

By Sky News US Team

Two officers have been shot outside the police department in Ferguson, Missouri, according to reports.

It happened as police confronted protesters gathered outside the station after the resignation of police Chief Thomas Jackson on Wednesday.

Sky's US correspondent Greg Milam said one officer was hit in the shoulder and the other in the face.

The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear. Both were taken to hospital.

One is thought to be a St Louis County officer and the other from a town near Ferguson.

Witnesses said up to four shots were fired. A large number of officers, some in riot gear, later formed a guard around the police station.

Chief Jackson resigned following a scathing government report that exposed racial biases in his department and a profit-driven court system.

An earlier report cleared white police officer Darren Wilson of civil rights charges in the shooting of a black teenager Michael Brown last summer.

The St Louis suburb has been hit by unrest ever since.

Mr Jackson is the sixth Ferguson city official to quit or be fired in the wake of the reports.

On Tuesday the city council voted unanimously to accept the resignation of City Manager John Shaw, who oversaw the police department.

That followed Municipal Court Judge Ronald Brockmeyer's decision to step down on Monday.

Mr Jackson, who had previously resisted calls from protesters and some of Missouri's top officials to resign, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch he felt it was time to move on.

"I believe this is the appropriate thing to do at this time," he said. "This city needs to move forward without any distractions."

The 57-year-old embattled chief was widely criticised for his handling of the 9 August shooting of Mr Brown and subsequent protests.

In his resignation letter, obtained by the Post-Dispatch, Mr Jackson said: "It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this great city and to serve with all of you.

"I will continue to assist the city in any way I can in my capacity as private citizen."

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles denied rumours that he would also resign, the newpaper reported on Wednesday.

The city plans to launch a nationwide search for a new police chief, it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Mr Brown's family have said they will file a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Ferguson and Darren Wilson, the former officer who shot dead the unarmed teenager.

Mr Wilson, who said he acted in self-defence, was cleared by a grand jury and the Justice Department of any wrongdoing.

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