Two police officers shot in Ferguson protest

Two police officers were shot and wounded during a protest outside the Police Department in Ferguson, Missouri, early Thursday morning.

A 41-year-old officer from the St. Louis County Police was struck in the shoulder and a 32-year-old officer from the nearby Webster Groves Police Department was hit in the face, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters.

"These police officers were standing there and they were shot, just because they were police officers," he said.

A manhunt has been under way for the shooter.

The protest started peacefully Wednesday, hours after the resignation of Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson. Protestors faced off with the police clad in riot gear outside the Ferguson Police Department. When gunshots were fired at midnight, the few dozen protestors screamed and fled.

Belmar said the shooter was among the protestors standing across from the officers.

But local media quoted some protestors as saying that the gunshots came from behind the crowd of protestors and up a hill some 150 meters away.

Jackson announced his resignation Wednesday, becoming the third high-profile Ferguson official that has resigned in the past week after the Justice Department released a report criticizing the Ferguson Police Department's bias against minorities. The report stated that widespread racial bias had led to the abuse of African-Americans by the city's police and court.

The city municipal court judge stepped down Monday; and a day later, the city manager resigned.

The death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in August 2014 has triggered an intense national debate over law enforcement's use of force against minorities, particularly against black men, and led to months of protests nationwide in the United States. Endi