Police come under ‘heavy gunfire’ in Ferguson, arrest 31 people

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FERGUSON, Mo. — Police said early Tuesday they came under “heavy gunfire” and made 31 arrests during another night of violence in this battle-scarred St. Louis suburb, where the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager at the hands of a white police officer has prompted a federal investigation.

At a news conference in the early morning hours, Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said that “our officers came under heavy gunfire” late Monday in a part of Ferguson but that police refrained from firing back. He said two people in the crowd were shot, but not by police, and were rushed to a hospital. Numerous fires were also set, he said.

Johnson said the two shooting victims were both men, but he had no information on their condition or identities. He stressed that “not a single bullet was fired by officers.”

Johnson also had harsh words for the news media, saying journalists have been failing to clear areas that police need to access. He also asked reporters not to “glamorize the acts of criminals.”

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