Grisly police photos from Ferguson shooting spark emotional response

Bloody crime scene photos released after the shooting of two police officers at a Ferguson protest on Thursday are a fresh reminder that there are people at the heart of a conflict that is so often described in symbols: black vs. white, protestor against police.

St. Louis County Police shared a series of images on its Facebook and Twitter accounts showing the blood-spattered helmet and abandoned nightstick of the 32-year-old officer who was shot in the face. A second officer was shot in the shoulder.

The photos “show the unfortunate reality of what occurred last night,” St. Louis County Police Sgt. Brian Schellman told Yahoo News via email.

If messages on the department’s Facebook post are any indication, the reality check was received. Hundreds commented on the graphic images.

“This picture makes it all too real,” Chrissy Dawson Lewis posted. “Praying for our officers and families.”

“This is hard to look at,” wrote Jen Stockhausen.

“I would prefer not to see photos like this,” Mary Kate Schulze commented. “I have police officers in my family and don’t need to witness photos like this.”

Jeff Roorda, a St. Louis police union official, put it this way: “These are real human beings that bleed when you prick them.”

The same sense of vulnerability was markedly present when St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar detailed the shooting at a Thursday news conference. The younger officer had his face shield up when the bullet struck just below his right eye. The impact sent blood flying.

“That splashes up against the inside of that face guard,” Belmar said in describing what the photos reveal.

And then the chief mirrored the uncertainty and emotion felt by so many upon hearing news of this latest round of violence in Ferguson, a community whose slowly healing wounds have again been ripped open: He admitted that police don’t have all the answers.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Belmar said. “This is beginning, at times, to be very difficult for any law enforcement agency anywhere to really wrap their arms around.”

Both wounded officers were released from the hospital on Thursday. Roorda visited with the 41-year-old St. Louis County officer who was struck in the right shoulder.

“He was really in surprisingly good spirits given what he went through,” he said.

For now, the other officer, a five-year veteran of Webster Groves Police Department, a neighboring town 14 miles southwest of Ferguson, has a bullet lodged just below his right ear. Doctors have not yet been able to remove it.

“I know that he’s home with his loved ones,” Roorda said.

In their Facebook post, police merely described the bloody helmet images as evidence and asked the public to call Crime Stoppers with any information. As of Friday morning, no arrests had been made.

“We will at times release crime scene photos if they won’t hinder an investigation,” Schellman said.

Whatever impact the photographs may have on police efforts to track down a suspect, some comments left on Facebook make clear this shooting is another setback in reuniting the fractured community.

“This is not Martin Luther’s dream, people.”

“It’s like the old West in Ferguson. Gun fights in the streets ... complete lawlessness.”

Jason Sickles is a reporter for Yahoo. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).

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