FERGUSON, Mo. — St. Louis County declared a state of emergency Monday as authorities arrested dozens of demonstrators and charged an 18-year-old black man who had been critically wounded by police with assaulting law enforcement officers.
One year after Michael Brown died by police gunfire and violent clashes shook this suburb of St. Louis, Ferguson was again rocked by fear, anger, and the threat of growing violence. By late Monday, police, protesters, and residents were bracing for another night of tense demonstrations and uncertainty.
Some of the unrest was related to the anniversary of Brown's death, including the arrest of nearly 60 people during a ''day of resistance'' Monday in St. Louis. Police jailed some of the most prominent leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement as well as Princeton University professor Cornel West.
''Between the continuous death of unarmed teenagers at the hands of police [and] tear gassing on Canfield Drive . . . we see that not enough has changed in Ferguson,'' said Brittany Packnett, an activist who works closely with the leaders of Black Lives Matter. ''It is August 2014 all over again.''
But the largely peaceful protests that began Sunday were surrounded and at times overtaken by what appeared to be random violence and opportunistic looting. The man shot by police, Tyrone Harris Jr., was with two friends trying to pawn a looted flat-screen television, according to his girlfriend and relatives, when police say he opened fire on a carload of undercover officers.
Harris, 18, remained in critical condition Monday. Police charged him with 10 counts of assaulting law enforcement, shooting at a motor vehicle, and armed criminal action.
Monday evening, activists briefly shut down a major freeway before police cleared them out, and an uneasy lull settled over the city.
Harris's shooting Sunday near midnight followed a mostly calm day of protests and vigils commemorating the anniversary of Brown's death. Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer.
Brown's killing thrust the small city into the center of a national conversation about police use of deadly force, particularly against minorities, even as it sparked violent unrest in Ferguson and beyond. It was unclear Monday what the fallout would be from the shooting of Harris — who attended the same school as Brown and knew him personally, according to school officials — but officials throughout the region were preparing for more violence.
Ferguson has experienced this chaotic mixture of gun violence, looting, and otherwise peaceful protests several times during the past year. With each incident, distrust between police and many in the community has deepened.
''The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tirelessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger,'' St. Louis County executive Steve Stenger said in a statement declaring a state of emergency. ''The time and investment in Ferguson and Dellwood will not be destroyed by a few that wish to violate the rights of others.''
On Monday, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar took command of police in Ferguson. At an early-morning news conference, he described how Sunday's events rapidly turned violent.
Police, he said, had responded to reports of looting on West Florissant Avenue, which has served as the focal point for the protests and unrest. Tensions rose around 8 p.m. as demonstrators gathered for a rap concert and panel discussion.
Nearby, groups of young men began breaking into storefronts, police said, prompting authorities to cut off traffic to the area and deploy officers in riot gear.
That response prompted angry locals and some protesters to gather opposite the line of officers. Meanwhile, plainclothes detectives farther down the avenue were monitoring two rival groups of young men, including Harris, whom they believed to be armed.
The groups exchanged between 40 and 50 shots in about 45 seconds, ''a remarkable amount of gunfire,'' Belmar said.
Belmar said Harris then broke away from the rival groups. As an unmarked police SUV with its interior lights flashing zoomed toward him, police said, Harris began firing at the vehicle, striking the hood and windshield multiple times.
The detectives returned fire. Harris was later found to be armed with a 9mm Sig Sauer pistol that had been reported stolen last year, Belmar said.
''They were criminals,'' Belmar said of the two groups. ''They weren't protesters.''
Harris was shot in the arm, legs, back, chest, liver and groin and taken to Barnes Jewish Hospital, where his father, Tyrone Harris Sr., said his family was denied entry. Relatives said they do not believe Harris was armed, though they acknowledged that he faced felony charges last year after leading police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle.
Harris's girlfriend, Qunesha Coley, who was present when the shooting erupted, said she met her boyfriend on West Florissant earlier in the evening. As hundreds were on the street chanting ''No justice, no peace'' and ''Hands up, don't shoot,'' Harris was with two friends who were carrying a looted flat-screen TV and were trying to sell it to another man, she said.
Harris's friends wanted $40 but the buyer offered $20, other witnesses said, according to relatives who were interviewed. Coley said the buyer may have been trying to steal the TV when the shooting began.
Coley said Harris pushed her out of the way, saying he was trying to protect her, then took off running toward her red Chevrolet Impala. The plainclothes police, it turned out, were stationed right near her car, she said.
The four detectives involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave; they have not been identified. None were wearing body cameras, something protesters and many experts have demanded in the past year.
Harris had a previous run-in with police in November. He was charged with stealing a car, stealing a firearm, and resisting arrest, according to court records.
''There ain't no child perfect. I don't claim he's a perfect person,'' his father said. ''He had gotten in trouble with law and made some mistakes, but he was trying to get his life together.''
Coley said Harris was not involved in the looting.
''I was positive of that because he was standing there with me the whole time until the shots fired,'' she said. ''He didn't want to leave my side.''
After all that happened — the looting, the shootout with the buyer-turned-robber, the police opening fire on her boyfriend — in the end, Coley noted, the TV the men had been fighting over ended up busted on street.