One person was critically injured in a shooting and seven people were arrested early Sunday after a curfew went into effect in Ferguson, Mo., reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald Johnson said police began using smoke bombs early after learning that men were on the roof of a restaurant. St. Louis Alderman Antonio French, who has been at demonstrations all week after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, 18, by police officer Darren Wilson, said the police tactics “were a lot better” than they could have been.
Hard rain fell on a small group of defiant protesters on an otherwise empty West Florissant Avenue as the midnight curfew went into effect after a week of demonstrations and occasional violence. Police officers, many in helmets and body armor, warned them to disperse. At 12:45 a.m., police put on their gas masks. All through the evening, there was concern that some protesters would ignore the curfew, which was imposed by Gov. Jay Nixon after looters raided businesses in the early hours Saturday. Protesters marched up and down the main street earlier Saturday evening, but the crowd began thinning after 11 p.m. and the police presence grew.