A day of peaceful remembrance marking the anniversary of a black teen’s killing by police in the US city of Ferguson came to a violent end Sunday as gunfire left at least one protester injured.
A day of peaceful remembrance marking the anniversary of a black teen's killing by police in the US city of Ferguson came to a violent end Sunday as gunfire left at least one protester injured.
St. Louis County police said an officer had opened fire after coming under "heavy gunfire," and pictures on Twitter showed at least two cars with bullet holes.
Local media reported that one person had been taken to the hospital.
Demonstrators had taken to the streets to mark the anniversary of 18-year-old Michael Brown's death in a fateful encounter on August 9, 2014 with officer Darren Wilson.
The shooting -- and a subsequent decision not to indict Wilson -- led to violent unrest and set off nationwide protests and intense scrutiny of heavy-handed police tactics in a series of cases that ended in the deaths of unarmed blacks.
Sunday's day of remembrance had been peaceful until a handful of protesters grew rowdy later in the evening. At least one shop was looted in the hours ahead of the gunfire, which occurred shortly after 11:00 pm (0400 GMT).
A crowd of about 300 people had gathered earlier to mark the anniversary, during which they observed four and a half minutes of silence and released two white doves.
The time represented the four and a half hours that Brown's body lay face down in the street before being taken away.
Many in the crowd wore T-shirts emblazoned with Brown's portrait and the words "Choose Change." Others carried signs, including one that read: "STOP killing black children."
Brown's father, also called Michael, said he was grateful so many people had turned out for the march.
In New York, dozens of people gathered at Union Square to hold a vigil for Brown in solidarity with Ferguson and to call for ongoing demonstrations against police killings of minorities.
About 100 people gathered in Brooklyn earlier, staging a symbolic "die-in" to protest Brown's shooting. Police arrested several people.
