Ferguson Erupted On Michael Brown's Death Anniversary

It was a day of peaceful vigils, on the anniversary of Michael Brown's shooting death. But on late Sunday night, things became charged and bad. Protesters threw rocks and bottles at officers, and when a man fired at the police, he was shot and "critically injured".

He was in his 20s, and was supposed to go through surgery on early Monday morning, according to cnn.

But according to St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, the man fired a "remarkable amount of gunfire" against the officers with a stolen handgun.

"We cannot continue, we cannot talk about the good things that we have been talking about, if we are prevented from moving forward with this kind of violence," he said.

However, the violent guys are not protesters, according to Belmar. "Protesters are people who are out there to effect change," he said. There were "several people shooting, several rounds shot."

Belmar described those involved as "criminals" and they were not the "protesters who were marking the anniversary of Brown's death", according to npr.

In the beginning, things were peaceful. There was some honouring of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen. There were only four-and-a-half minutes of silence, to signify the four-and-a-half hours that his body lay on the streets last year.

Yet, by sunset, the shooting began, and then things erupted.

One man first exchanged gunfire, and then he began to run away.

Reporters began to converse with Ferguson's acting police chief, Andre Anderson. He continued to talk but there was a lot of gunfire in the background. Crowds scattered.

Some detectives chased him in an unmarked SUV but the vehicle was shot at several times.

The man then ran towards a fenced area, and continued to run till the officers struck him multiple times, Belmar said.

"The four plainclothes officers involved in the shooting have between six to 12 years of experience," he said. They have been placed on administrative leave."

By then, there was more police in the area and there was a charged air.

"Several objects were thrown at police and some businesses damaged," the St. Louis County Police Department said. "A journalist was attacked and robbed in a parking lot. One officer was struck in the face by a brick."

The cops came with helmets and shields, and pushed the people back, calling in some more cops in tactical units. "We're ready for what? We're ready for war," some in the crowd chanted.

Some appealed for peace. "Please pray for peace in Ferguson tonight and forever," Danny Takhar tweeted. "And the police department really needs to look at what they did last year and today."

One video of the victim in the shooting was posted. "Please get him some help! He's bleeding out," a voice said off-camera.

Last year, Brown's killing by officer Darren Wilson started outrage against racial bias. Though Wilson was not indicted, the protests have continued.

The incident at least led to new policing strategies, including body cameras to expose the truth.

On Monday morning, smoke bombs stopped the crowd, yet protests are expected to continue.