Ferguson Reels from Weekend Unrest

St. Louis area residents are reeling Monday after weekend civil unrest followed the Saturday shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Up to 70 protesters were still at a QuikTrip convenience store in Ferguson on Monday afternoon, where what many described as a riot broke out around 8 p.m. Sunday, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.

The story begins in north St. Louis County around noon local time in the suburb of Ferguson, a mostly ethnically black municipality of about 21,000.

There, Michael Brown and a friend walked down a Ferguson street when they were stopped by police, the St. Louis County police told The Wall Street Journal.

A confrontation ensued between police and Brown, and Brown was fatally wounded by multiple shots from police.

Sunday, a vigil was held in Brown’s memory, according to the WSJ report. But the remembrance soon became a civil disturbance.

“What began as a peaceful protest started to become violent,” Officer Brian Schellman of the St. Louis Police Department said Monday.

At approximately 8:45 p.m. Sunday, Ferguson police requested the assistance of neighboring police departments at the site of the vigil.

Missouri State Highway Patrol, City of St. Louis Police, St. Charles Police, and up to 25 municipalities in St. Louis County responded to a scene being described as riotous.

The storefronts of several Ferguson businesses were broken.

Police say unrest throughout commercial strips of Ferguson lasted until about 3:30 a.m. Monday.

Police made 32 arrests over the course of Sunday night, with charges ranging from assault to burglary, larceny and destruction of property.

The St. Louis County Police Department reported two unidentified area police officers were injured and transported to local hospitals.

Top image: Flickr/brykmantra