4 Police Officers Shot in St. Louis as Violent Unrest over Floyd’s Death Continues

The incident happened near St. Louis police headquarters, where police and protesters clashed repeatedly throughout the night, according to local media. The protest was initially peaceful, but turned violent after nightfall, with vandalism and looting of businesses reported.

Officers apparently came under gunfire shortly after using multiple flash-bangs and tear-gas rounds against a crowd near Olive and 16th streets.

Two of the officers were shot in the leg, one was shot in the foot and the fourth officer was shot in the arm, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden told reporters outside a hospital at about 2 a.m. Tuesday.

“Thankfully, thank God they’re alive,” the police chief said holding back tears. “Can we make some sense out of this? That’s all I’m trying to say.”

St. Louis is among dozens of cities across the US facing nighttime violence as the country is consumed by public rage over police brutality. The wave of protests, which has already spilled across the American borders, was unleashed by a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer pinning a black man to the ground by kneeling on his neck. George Floyd died in custody in what an independent autopsy confirmed to be a homicide.