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Shots, warnings of tear gas and protest return to Ferguson

A police officer is silhouetted against Ferguson's police department and municipal court building, during nighttime protests on November 26, 2014.
Durrie Bouscaren | St. Louis Public Radio | File photo
Many in Ferguson Tuesday night said the atmosphere was similar to last August.

Police and protesters returned to West Florissant Avenue Tuesday night.

People came together near the former Original Reds BBQ in Ferguson around 8 p.m., as demonstrations continued in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray.

On Twitter, Ferguson Township Democratic Committeewoman Patricia Bynes noted:

But while the early days of the demonstrations in Ferguson may have been intense, there were few gunshot injuries then. At least two people were shot Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. A man was shot in the leg early on and the Post-Dispatch reported that police quickly took a suspect into custody. Around midnight, as most of the protesters were leaving the area, there were reports on Twitter of at least two volleys of gunfire, with one person shot.

During the demonstrations, officers -- reportedly from Ferguson, St. Louis County and the Highway Patrol -- moved against those who had blocked the streets. At one point, according to photos and video on Twitter, protesters linked arms and faced off against the police.

During the course of the night and early morning, police announced an unlawful assembly and said tear gas would be used. The announcement was apparently in accordance with a court decision requiring warning before the use of chemical agents.

It was after the warnings, as much of the crowd was said to be dispersing, that the second person was shot. Reports of someone "emptying a clip" or "shooting into the air" were seen several minutes before tweets went out about more shots and a person hit.

Donna Korando started work in journalism at SIU’s Daily Egyptian in 1968. In between Carbondale and St. Louis Public Radio, she taught high school in Manitowoc, Wis., and worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the copy editor and letters editor for the editorial page from 1973-77. As an editorial writer from 1977-87, she covered Illinois and city politics, education, agriculture, family issues and sub-Saharan Africa. When she was editor of the Commentary Page from 1987-2003, the page won several awards from the Association of Opinion Page Editors. From 2003-07, she headed the features copy desk.