louis county police chief jon belmar after two officers were shot outside the ferguson police department. belmar said they believe the gunman targeted the officers lined up in front of the police station to keep protesters back. >> both officers we want to remind you in serious condition this morning. one of them shot in the face. the bullet is still lodged behind his ear. that's his helmet. there's blood splatter on his visor you can clearly see. the other officer was shot in the shoulder. the police chief described how it exited through his back. neither officer worked for the ferguson police chief. >>> sedric alexander the former police chief in dekalb county, florida, also a member of the white house task force aimed at strengthening the trust among law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. thank you for being with us, sir. chief belmar of st. louis county was talking about this trust and how it has served the communities. he said this just shows how difficult it is for police officers to navigate between people who want to do them harm and people who want to exercise

jon belmar the st. press conference earlier and i'm going to bring that to you right now. take a listen. >> captain nelson here from the webster groves police department. >> so at about 8:00 last night may have been a little sooner than that protesters arrived in front of the ferguson police department on south floreson road. i was actually able to monitor that, talk to my staff about what was going on. as far as the night goes probably 60 70 people that were up there. it wasn't all that remarkable compared to some of the things that we have experienced over the last few months but there were quite a few people in the roadway, sidewalks, in front of the station, et cetera. there was a contingent of police officers that were up there from different agencies assisting ferguson and the night was fairly uneventful up until midnight. at midnight the crowd was starting to break up. in fact some of the officers had left the area. to the immediate north northwest of the ferguson police department several shots

louis county police chief jon belmar says the officers came from neighbors police departments and helping ferguson. after you hear from belmar you will hear from marcus laurell. he will tell you what he saw. listen. >> the night was fairly uneventful up until midnight. at midnight, the crowd was starting to break up and some of the police officers were leaving the area. to the north/northwest of the ferguson police department several shots were fired, at least three, and two officers struck. st. louis county officer struck in the shoulder and webster grove officer struck in the face. both officers are here right now and treated. i don't have an official status on what their condition is right now. they are conscious. >> probably 30 feet away from the crowd. all of a sudden, i heard at least four to five shots rang out. i know that area. i know the shots came from over by the grassy area beyond the subway. nowhere near the protesters. i mean i'm thinking about trying to rebuild what happened and it took me at least 30 seconds of watching before i realized there was an officer down. when i

louis county police chief jon belmar says the officers came from neighboring police departments. one from st. louis county. one from webster grove. they had been helping out ferguson's police department. we will play sound from the st. louis county police chief belmar. you will hear from a witness, markus laerher. >> at midnight the crowd was starting to break up. several officers left the area. to the immediate north/northwest of the ferguson police department, several shots were fired. at least three. two officers were struck. a st. louis county officer struck in the shoulder and a webster grove police officer was struck in the face. both officers are here right now and being treated. i don't have an official status on what their condition is right now. they are conscious. >> probably 30 feet away from the crowd. all of a sudden i heard four to five shots rang out. i know that area. i know the shots came from at least over by the grassy area beyond the subway. nowhere near the protesters. i'm thinking about and trying to rebuild what happened. it took me at least 30 seconds of

louis county police chief jon belmar.thank you for being with me and, jim, a lot to go over with this press conference. let's talk about what they are talking about as far as a suspect or suspects involved. one of the things that struck me was the fact that they said that it was probably a handgun, that it was about 150 yards away that the officers saw the muzzle flash. what does that tell you? >> well somebody was clearly intent on shooting into the police line it looks like and getting away so it doesn't tell you a lot but they could recover a couple of casings there may be. maybe that's from the subject's gun, and they may be able to do some ballistics identification with that if they can get a lead on somebody and even with the national ballistics network to see if the gun has been used in a crime before so the chief was pretty clear. he's interested in protecting his officers and the protesters' right to protest, and he's not throwing the shooter as a protester. he's saying it's separate. that the person who pulled t

ice chief jon belmar said they have leads on the suspects but would not give more specific details. >> when this happened when they heard the shots and when they heard the bullets zinging past that they saw muzzle flashes, but these muzzle flashes were probably about 125 yards away. many officers drew their weapons but no officers fired. this is the number one priority right now of the st. louis county police department to identify these individuals. that individual or individuals who shot our police officers. >> now, one of the officers was shot in the shoulder the other in the face. chief belmar described their injuries as non-life-threatening and cell phone video captured the moment at least four shots rang out. [ gunshots ] >> so the crowd of about 50 demonstrators and about 30 police officers took cover. demonstrators were rallying after the resignation after police chief thomas jackson, the sixth departure from the ferguson police department following the justice department's scathing report. nbc's ron allen joins me now from ferguson. first, ron, let's get an update on the cond

jon belmar spoke previously. he said a 32-year-old who was a five-year veteran was shot in the face. and a 41-year-old officer from st. louis county was shot in the shoulder. that officer was a 14-year veteran on the force. he described their injuries as serious. both were conscious and are currently conscious as they are there in the hospital. but he says those injuries are serious. the shots were fired as the protesters gathered following the resignation of the embattled police chief. it happened on wednesday. jackson was the 6th employee to be fired orie signed. a report cleared darrin wilson, a name you heard a lot of civil rights charges in the shooting of black 18-year-old teenager michael brown in ferguson last summer. wilson has since resigned. >>> and joining us now on the phone is rod wheeler former dc homicide detective and criminal investigation. you have heard what the chief has to say and what are your thoughts on what happened here tonight? truly a horrific scene there. >> you are exactly right. it

colonel jon belmar updated media on what they now so far.. >> the night was fairly uneventful up until about midnight. at midnight the crowd was starting to break up. in fact, several of the officers had left the area. and to the immediate north-northwest of the ferguson police department several shots were fired, at least three. and two officers were struck. st. louis county officer was struck in the shoulder. and a webster groves police officer was struck in the face. both those officers are here right now. they're being treated. i don't have an official status on what their condition is right now. they are conscious. however, those are very serious gunshot injuries to be able to sustain in your upper torso and certainly in your face. so they're being treated right now. family is with them. the officers will not be identified at this point, other than the fact that the st. louis county police officer is 41 years old. he's been a 14 year veteran of law enforcement. and then we have the webster groves officer who is 32 years old, and he's be

martha: we've been listening to jon belmar, prior to this gent man, st.lice chief, who said by god's grace we did not lose two police officers last night but he outlined their injuries and they are quite serious. the younger one from west groves, the bullet went through his cheek and lodged behind his ear the way it was described and the bullet is in that position and doctors are trying to figure out what they're growing to do in terms of that. the other 41-year-old st. louis police officer, 14-year veteran of the force there, he got a bullet went through the front of his shoulder and lodged between the scrap you la and his back. he was in a great deal of pain, who described a very difficult difficult situation, when shots rang out against a lined up formation of police officers, standing there to protect people's rights. are we going to mike tobin now? mike tobin, are you there? >> reporter: martha we have people looking at scene officers with metal detectors, examining the scene. presumably they're looking for what is left over of rounds fired off in th

louis county chief of police jon belmar spoke about the difficulties of police. here it is. >> it's difficult for the officers to discern within a crowd of folks that are perhaps there for the right reason exactly who is doing what. i would have to imagine that these protesters were among the shooters that shot at the police officers. it's very difficult for the u officers to understand what they're looking at and really be able to veflt the threats. >> this may be an off the wall question. ch do the police need to be there? if they're a target, do the police need to be there while the peaceful protests are taking place? >> i wouldn't take the kind of leap to determine whether the police should be there or not, but to chief belmar's point, i would imagine it would be difficult. you're talking to 200 people out there. they're in dark corners. people say they saw the muzzle flash 125 yards up a hill in the darkness. clearly it's difficult. but i would say that the idea that there's a shooter among the protesters concerns the protesters as well. they're promoting mi

louis county police chief jon belmar. >> we have had several leadsea since then. i cannot tell you at this point that an arrest is imminent. certainly nobody is in custody. >> reporter: six high-ranking ferguson officials have departed>> in the last few days, but the protest continues. brittany packnet is reviewing is a member of the ferguson commission reviewing reforms for the city. is there any doubt in your mind that the protests will continue? >> there is no doubt in my mind that peaceful action will continue in ferguson and across this country because there is still a lot of work to do. >> reporter: there is now a reward in excess of $10,000 for information leading to an arrest in the shooting early thursday. and, scott, the police say that amount could go up as theirle investigation proceeds. >> pelley: dean, thanks very much. in another deadly police shooting, the medical examiner in madison, wisconsin said today 19-year-old tony robinson was shot in the head, arm, and torso last week. robinson, who was biracial, was unarmed. the police say he assaulted ma

jon belmar. >> we have an obligation that folks want to express their first amendment rights have thebility to do that but when you look at the tenure of at least some of the people involved in the protest or civil unrest it at times, can be very troubling. >> right now the manhunt continues for the person or persons who did this. one of the officers was shot in the cheek, and then the bullet lodged behind his ear. the other got hit in the shoulder and that bullet went through his back. they are listed in serious condition. back to you. >> thanks molette. >>> new rules for police departments could be coming to maryland. activists are talking to lawmakers about them now. there are three bills on the table. one is about where officers can use body cameras. another involves how you would issue a complaint against an officer. the third would require an annual report on all deaths of officers and on anyone killed by police. >>> metra's leaders are asking for a big loan to pay off and old loan. according to "the washington post," mess traat tra has to pay back debt this year. they're asking

louis county police chief jon belmar says this is a situation that keeps getting more difficult to handle. >> this is another layer that makes it very difficult for our police officers out there to deal with. i hope people understand that because it's a very tricky line for us to be able to walk. >> reporter: and harris you touched on the good news that both police officers have now been discharged from the hospital despite very serious nature of their wounds. the 41-year-old officer from the st. louis county police department was shot in his right shoulder. the bullet exited out his back. that 32-year-old officer from webster grove was shot around the cheek and the bullet is still in his head. harris, back to you. >> mike tobin with very latest in ferguson missouri. mike, thank you very much. we'll bring it out to the couch now. lou, i will start with you. what is going on here in ferguson, missouri, is not happening in a vacuum. i mentioned resignations in the police department and previous statements by attorney general arick holder looking at dismantling that department. your thoughts

louis county police chief, jon belmar just made an opening statement. he is now answering reporters' questions. let's go back. >> -- responsible for you interrogating them. >> we interviewed them is what we did. without going into a whole lot on that because again, i appreciate their cooperation and i wouldn't want to do anything to compromise them but as you might imagine, there is all sorts of information that comes in regarding an investigation, especially of this magnitude, and when that happens, we have the obligation to follow up on those -- on those statements made to us on those clues, on those facts and circumstances, that would lead different people perhaps in two different areas to say hey, i saw this i don't know what this necessarily means, but people speculate on different things. it leaves law enforcement to it. i would tell you that was a whole lot more without getting into a whole lot of details that i think are very inappropriate to share with anybody else at this time since these leads are going away that we felt like at that point in

louis county police chief jon belmar. >> this is really an ambush is what it is. you can't see it coming. you don't understand that it's going to happen and you're basically defenseless from the fact that it is happening to you at the time. >> woodruff: one of the wounded officers was shot in the face, the bullet lodged behind his ear. the other was hit in the shoulder by a bullet that just missed his spine. >> we could have buried two police officers next week over this. >> woodruff: instead, officials said neither man suffered permanent injury, and both were released from a hospital late this morning. the shootings came just hours after ferguson police chief tom jackson resigned. he'd been under pressure since the august shooting death of michael brown by officer darren wilson, who's since left the force. then, last week the u.s. justice department accused ferguson's police and courts of rampant racism, prompting chief jackson and five others to quit or be fired. in washington today, however, attorney general eric holder warned last night's shootings threaten an

louis county police chief jon belmar. no police officers returned fire. the wounded officers were rushed from the scene. today the chief called it an ambush and indicated it might have come from among the crowd of protesters. >> i would have to imagine that these protesters were among the shooters that shot at the police officers. my officers tell me that when this happened, when they heard the shots and when they heard the bullets zinging past, they saw muzzle flashes. but these were probably about 125 yards away. >> protesters maintained it came from a hill about 220 yards directly across from the station, according to "the new york times." today eric holder condemned the shooting in the strongest possible terms. >> what happened last night was a pure ambush. this was not someone trying to bring healing to ferguson. this was a damn punk, a punk who was trying to sew discord in an area that's trying to get its act together. >> local leaders have also sharply denounced the shooting. tonight the missouri state highway patrol have taken over in the city of

louis county police chief jon belmar says only seems to escalate. >> when you look at the tenor of at least some of the people involved in the protests or civil unrest, it is at times can be very troubling. >> very troubling. attorney general eric holder calling it a senseless act which he blames on a punk. >> this was a damn punk. a punk. who was trying to sow discord in an area that is trying get its act together and trying to bring together a community that has been fractured for too long. >> no less than the president tweeting this. violence gigs appliance unacceptable. our players with the ofs. to milwaukee county sheriff on what he founds very troubling in all of this. what do you think of this? >> well, this war on our nation's finest, the american police officer, continues, but it continues to be fueled by some very important people. it's empty rhetoric for what eric holder offered today and the president through a tweet of all things, when they have now an obligation to stand up and remind people in these urban ghettos and american ghettos they have a responsibility to comply

louis and the chief of police jon belmar talking about the two officers wounded in ferguson last nightnforcement, to officers and family of officers that were shot. at 5:30 chief thomas jackson announces his resignation. we began to see protesters gather at the ferguson police department. i started tracking this about 8:01 last night. i got a call in my staff saying we expect protesters on the parking lot. we think there's going to be further protesters on the parking lot. i called my staff and i said listen i want this like we always do this. i want this to be a very measured response by the police department. by that i mean the st. louis county police department because the ferguson police department is right now back in control of the city of ferguson. i actually kind of stayed in touch with this until about 10:30 last night, went to bed. i was woke up about midnight with the news. at about 8:15 last night, protesters started blocking south florissant road in front of the pd. ferguson called a code 1000 which means the closest 25 cars that could be available to assist them at 8:27.

louis county police chief jon belmar said he believed the officers were directly targeted.ef belmar: i do not know who did the shooting to be honest with you right now, but somehow they were embedded in that group of folks. i would have to make in a suction right now that based on the fact that these officers were standing together and there were several officers standing right there together when this happened, that, you know, these were shots that were parallel to the ground, not up in the air. they were not skip shots, and we have to make an assumption that these shots were directed exactly at my police officers. amy: one officer was shot in the face, the other was shot in the shoulder. some eyewitnesses disputed the claim that the shooter was embedded with the protesters. activist deray mckesson tweeted -- "the shooter was not with the protestors. the shooter was atop the hill." yourpierre thomas with abc news says it appears to be a random shooting by someone who just showed up. just hours before the shooting ferguson mayor james knowles discussed the resignation of fe

louis county police chief jon belmar. hours from now the the st.ouri state highway patrol will take over security for protests in ferguson until further notice. earlier today the mayor and ferguson city council weighed in on the shooting citing this act of violence has no place in our community or our country. they also addressed the recent department of justice report accusing the city of systemic racial bias. we have made changes at the highest level of our administration, police and courts. we are working to make changing necessary to instill confidence in the city, our police and our courts. joining me now from ferguson is nbc news correspondent jay gray. what can you tell us about the condition os the two officers who were shot? >> yeah as you just heard from the st. louis county chief, fortunate to be alive and released from the hospital today, alex. amazing to think about when one had a bullet through the shoulder. another had a bullet lodged in his skull. they were treated last night. stayed in the hospital overnight and released today. tha

. >> reporter: jon belmar is st. louis county's police chief. >> one was shot in the ould ershoulder the other in the face. >> he felt this was the best way forward. >> jackson is the sixth ferguson official to leave in the last week. he's been heavily criticized for his department's response to last august's killing of unarmed teen michael brown and the reaction through protests that follow. the problems are far-reaching. ferguson's approach reaches racial bias. in a letter wednesday the chief wrote of five years it was an honor to serve and he will continue to assist the city anyway he can. bellemare says the volatile relationship between the law enforcement and the community can't go on. >> it's vegas difficult to sustain this. >> reporter: both injured officers are at the hospital this morning with their families. we expect an update on their conditions and a search for suspects at a news conference later this morning. gayle? >> thank you, mike. two senior agents allegedly drove a vehicle into a white house barri

. >> reporter: jon belmar is st. louis county the police chief. >> the st. louis county officer was struck in the shoulder and a webster groves police officer was struck in the face. >> reporter: the violence came hours after ferguson the mayor announced that the city's police chief, thomas jackson, would be stepping down. >> he felt that this was the best way forward. >> reporter: jackson is the sixth ferguson official to leave in the last week. he's been heavily criticized for his department's response to last august's killing of unarmed teenager michael brown. and the department's reaction to the protests that followed. according to a report released by the department of justice last week, the problems are far-reaching. ferguson's approach to law enforcement, it said both reflects and reinforces racial bias. in his resignation letter published wednesday, the chief of five years wrote it was an honor to serve, and that he will continue to assist the city in any way i can. belmar says the vol tireatile relationship can't go on. >> difficult to sustain this

louis police chief jon belmar talked about the growing concerns over the shooting that took place this week. the hunt continues with hundreds of law enforcement officers joining the manhunt for the suspects in the shooting of those ferguson officers this week. dramatic video there, that ambush happening at tensions erupted following the justice department's controversial report saying its investigation found what this describes, quote, as a structure of racism in the ferguson police department. those findings fueling lots of reaction. joining us now with his take outspoken milwaukee county sheriff david clark. welcome, great to have you back on the program. as i understand it you feel that the civil rights division report on ferguson which determined that the police routinely violated the civil rights of blacks is what you describe as empty rhetoric by the attorney general and its fueling hatred against police not just in ferguson but across different cities in america. why? >> well, this assault on the american police officer continues. i predicted this early on with some of the irres

louis county police chief jon belmar said this morning. >> we can not sustain this without problems.essing their second amendment rights. we have seen in law enforcement this is a very dangerous environment for the officers to work in. these police officers were standing there and they were shot. just because they were police officers. >> here's what we know about those two police officers. one who was from st. louis county that was shot in the shoulder, he's 41 years old and a 14 year veteran of law enforcement. the other who was shot in the face is from webster groves, a suburb of st. louis. he's 32 years old and has served on the force for about seven years. they are in serious but not life threatening condition. the press conference will come in a couple hours. they will update us on the officer' condition as well as the investigation. >>> meanwhile joining us right now is a witness to the shooting and a free lance journalist covering the protests in ferguson. riley raiford is with us. we talked to you a couple hours ago what you saw. first off, reset the scene for us. we underst

louis police chief, jonless jon belmar earlier this morning. >> several shots were fired.least three. two officers were shot. st. louis county officer was struck in the shoulder. webster gross police officer was struck in the face. we have had an occasion to be involved in many of the events in ferguson since the -- since michael brown was killed. and i think we've been very fortunate as we've moved forward not to have similar instances like this happen to us. but when we have seen in law enforcement that this is a very very very dangerous environment for the officers to work in regarding the amount of gunfire that we have experienced up there. now, this evening the only shots that we were aware of were the shots taken from across the street. in other words, these police officers were standing there and they were shot. just because they were police officers. >> we've got the president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton with us president of national urban league onset as well. we want to get to -- >> we have a lot of news to cover. >> jennifer roller on th