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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER
Manhunt for Gunman Who Shot 2 Officers Durning Ferguson Protests
Aired March 12, 2015 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Two officers down.
I'm Jake Tapper live in Ferguson, Missouri. And this is THE LEAD.
The national lead, shots echoing out in this town again, two officers hit in the midst of protests after the chief resigns, today, police calling the attack an ambush and saying whomever fired those bullets had murderous intent.
And, right now, a manhunt is under way, authorities searching for suspects and pleading for anyone with information to come forward. What happens next with Ferguson on edge? Will protesters turn out again? Can Ferguson police keep the peace?
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Jake Tapper. Welcome to THE LEAD.
And we today are live outside the police department here in Ferguson, Missouri, a city, as I do not need to tell you, has been consumed by so much chaos, a powder keg that exploded after Michael Brown was shot and killed last summer, early this morning, again, this town thrown into chaos.
Now there is an intense manhunt going on for the suspect or suspects who shot two police officers who were standing post right here outside Ferguson police headquarters. As of now, no one has been arrested, but law enforcement here, they are questioning two men and a woman. They're trying to uncover any information that might be able to lead them to a shooter or shooters.
That was the scene early this morning, gunshots ringing out, hitting two police officers, officers who were then surrounded by their fellow men and women in blue, as the protesters dispersed in the ensuing confusion. The Saint Louis County police chief, Jon Belmar, today saying that those shots came from a handgun and his men -- quote -- "were shot just because they were police officers."
Belmar also spoke to who he thought was behind the shooting of the officers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON BELMAR, SAINT LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI, POLICE CHIEF: These protesters were among the shooters that shot at the police officers.
(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: The protesters were among the shooters that shot at the police officer. Protesters and witnesses here dispute that. We asked Saint Louis County police officials to clarify.
A spokesman told CNN: "It is our belief that these protesters were spread so far out at that time that at some point, again, through our investigation to this point, they were among the shooters, were among or in very close proximity to the crowd" -- unquote.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today both condemning the violence and vowing to pour in any necessary federal resources to root out, in his words, the damn punk who did this, and to bring that person or persons to justice.
President Obama attaching his initials to an official White House tweet, saying -- quote -- "Violence against police is unacceptable." He said, "The path to justice is one all of us must travel together."
But this morning's events and the potential ripple effect, one hopes it doesn't happen, but potentially more upheaval, more rioting, maybe even more bloodshed. We hope that's not the case. But all of this makes the road that much longer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER (voice-over): This afternoon, police are frantically searching for clues on who may have been responsible for the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson. Late last night, bloodied riot gear marked violence on streets which have already witnessed so much unrest.
BELMAR: This is really an ambush is what it is.
TAPPER: Today, both officers have been released from the hospital. They are lucky to be alive after sustaining serious wounds in a protest rally aimed at Ferguson's police department.
BELMAR: My officers tell me when they heard the shots and when they heard the bullets zinging past, that they saw multiple flashes.
TAPPER: The shooting happened around midnight as the demonstration was winding down. The bullets hit a 41-year-old veteran of Saint Louis County's police force in the shoulder, and a 32-year-old from a nearby department in the face.
BELMAR: Right here, at the high point of your cheek, right under the right eye, and the bullet lodges right behind his ear.
TAPPER: Both were standing guard in front of Ferguson police headquarters. Police took two men and a woman away from this building for questioning, but have yet to name any suspects.
Earlier today, the Saint Louis County police chief admitted he's surprised this is the first time this has happened during these Ferguson protests.
BELMAR: I think it's a miracle that we haven't had any instances similar to this over the summer and fall.
TAPPER: Police have been facing off with protesters here for months, starting, of course, after the death of Michael Brown last August, and then after the grand jury failed to return an indictment against officer Darren Wilson last November, and now, in the wake of the Justice Department finding Ferguson's law enforcement rife with racially biased abuses.
Yesterday, the police chief announced his resignation, which came after others had announced they were leaving, but for some this is all too little, too late, the shooting last night another setback for a community torn apart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: CNN's Jason Carroll is also on the ground in Ferguson.
Jason, some breaking news just coming now in to CNN about security for this evening in the city of Ferguson. What's the breaking news? What can you tell us?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is going to be a change of security, Jake, going forward. According to the Saint Louis County Police Department, going forward, Saint Louis County police, as well as the state highway patrol, will take over the security detail dealing with protests. That will be until further notice.
It will no longer be the Ferguson Police Department taking care of that particular responsibility. So that definitely is a big change in terms of how security will be handled in Ferguson going forward, in terms of how they deal with protesters.
In terms of where we are here right now, one of the protesters who was there last night actually lived in the house behind me here; 23-year- old Iresha Turner. She was taken into custody for questioning along with two other men early this morning after a bit of developing news this morning here as well.
We are located just about a half mile from where you are, Jake, and this morning, at about 7:00, a number of police officers, SWAT teams as well, surrounded this particular house, brought these people into custody, everyone trying to figure out what was going on. I spoke to Turner's grandmother, who tells me, yes, she was in fact at the protest there last night. She called her and said, grandma, I heard a number of shots. She was told to get out of there as soon as possible.
Her grandmother thought, Jake, everything was fine until she got a call from a neighbor this morning saying that the house was surrounded. So now you have a grandmother who is very upset. She says her granddaughter is not a suspect. She says she's upset about what's happened to her granddaughter, what happened to police, and what has happened to this community. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) IRIS TURNER, GRANDMOTHER OF WOMAN QUESTIONED: There's just too much going on. I'm really stressed out. There's just too much stuff going on with these kids. It's just crazy. It's so crazy, that these kids up there protesting and doing this. They need to be at home. That's where they need to be, in the house. All this -- it's uncalled for, what is going on. It's really uncalled for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Also this afternoon, Turner's grandmother brought me inside the home here so I could see what had happened after police had been through it. It was a total mess, a total wreck. I asked her what were they looking for. She said she believes officers were looking for a weapon, but she says, once again, her daughter is not a suspect, her daughter does not own any weapons -- Jake.
TAPPER: Jason Carroll, thank you so much.
I want to bring in Pastor Mike Robinson and Bishop Derrick Robinson, if you gentlemen want to come over here a little bit. Or how do we want to do this? No, you want to stay here. OK. You're going to stay there. I'm sorry. I apologize. We're doing this on the fly a little bit here.
Just look at me, if you would and talk to me. Walk us through last night. Where were you, what did you hear, what did you see?
I will start with you.
MIKE ROBINSON, PASTOR: I was here last night.
TAPPER: Were you over there?
M. ROBINSON: No, I was just right by that light pole, a little bit forward from there. Me and a group of clergy members were out here. And the night was going well.
We were about to leave, actually. Then we heard gunshots ringing out from above our heads, coming across.
TAPPER: So from over there?
M. ROBINSON: Yes, from the back of the lot. We heard the gunshots coming across. Now, these weren't -- living in North Saint Louis, you know what a gunshot -- a shotgun sounds like.
TAPPER: Right.
M. ROBINSON: This was a gunshot with a silencer on it. Someone who was skilled and very precise about their target decided to shoot at police officers.
TAPPER: Is your story basically the same?
DERRICK ROBINSON, BISHOP: Well, last evening, it was -- I would say it wasn't from this local community because for several reasons. One is as the investigators were -- the crime scene was -- during the scene of the crime, they couldn't find gunpowder anywhere located on any of the hill.
It lets us know that it wasn't from our local community. And it's not even something -- we have been out here protesting for 219 days and have not ever shot at a cop.
TAPPER: Right. No, no.
But, look, we all know this. There is -- most of the protesters since last August, vast majority, peaceful, they want change, they want institutional change. There are passions sometimes, but people who are abiding by the law or maybe sometimes exercising civil disobedience, but nothing violent.
Every time I have been here, and it's been many, many weeks, there has been a small contingent of people. Now, I don't know if they are outside agitators or if they are from the local community, but they are people who can ruin it for the rest of you. Is it possible that those were the people firing?
D. ROBINSON: I would say no.
TAPPER: No? You don't think so?
D. ROBINSON: Absolutely not, because those persons was not a part of the -- we have -- the hill, most of the protesters don't even know where the hill goes. OK? We don't usually go on the hill and we will only park on the hill if a lot of cars.
But, yesterday, we parked in the Aldi's lot. We parked over here, parked all the way around. So those things, it was not from our community or from our protesting community. It had to be someone from this hill community. It was so -- it was professional, it was organized, and it was a scope on the rifle. So it was all coordinated.
M. ROBINSON: And I was here on the lot. I was here on the lot, so I absolutely know that it did not come from amongst us. There were only about 50 or 60 of us left out here at that time.
And it did not come from amongst the crowd. This thing came from above our heads. You could hear it coming across. And we absolutely don't agree with it. We can condemn that totally. The shooting of anyone, any life, it's absolutely not -- is not called for.
TAPPER: You said it was professional. You mean you thought that it was a professional hit?
D. ROBINSON: It was a professional hit. It was someone who had been through gun training. It was someone -- and it had to be at least two persons.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Why do you say that? D. ROBINSON: Because two of the bullets was from two different guns.
TAPPER: OK.
D. ROBINSON: So it was professionally done, OK? And we were out here while the SWAT team was here last night and all of those kind of things, and they could not find no inch of gunpowder nowhere.
M. ROBINSON: It was someone that wanted to get a response from the police officers against the protesters.
D. ROBINSON: Absolutely.
M. ROBINSON: Someone -- you know that if you shoot at a police officer, they are going to generally fire back. And they wanted that response from them, to fire back into the crowd, and so that was a response they were looking for.
TAPPER: You don't think they were just trying to kill cops?
M. ROBINSON: I don't think so. I don't think so. I think they were trying to get a response towards the protesters.
TAPPER: They shot a cop in the face. Wouldn't their main intention be...
D. ROBINSON: Well, I think that that was -- last night, we were playing cat and mouse with the police. At one point, we were over on the side where the cop was. They pushed us back. But we kept going back and forth.
So I believe it was aimed at the protesters. The protesters by that time was over on this side of the street. But, also, even from this local community, we had a press conference yesterday and there were police vans outside discussing how they were disappointed with the results of what happened of him resigning. And so they felt that the police departments around this city, around this metropolitan area had let them down.
TAPPER: All right, we have to leave it there. But I want to thank you so much.
Pastor Mike Robinson, Bishop Derrick Robinson praying for peace here, of course, on the streets of Ferguson, thank you.
M. ROBINSON: At 8:00 p.m. tonight, the clergy will be here praying for peace.
TAPPER: All right, thank you so much. gentlemen. We appreciate your time. Thank you so much.
My next guest says what the Ferguson protesters really want is -- quote -- "dead cops," and that's been their goal all along. He is friends with one of the injured police officers and just left his house. How is that officer doing now and how much closer is law enforcement to finding the shooter or shooters? Jeff Roorda of the Saint Louis Police Officers Association will tell
me coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Today, live in Ferguson, Missouri, where luck, if you can call it that, might be the only reason two police officers survived an attack.
Authorities here say one of the shooters, one or more shooters, lurking among peaceful protesters fired on police officers last night, hitting two of them -- one of them in the face, the other in the shoulder. The location of the shooter or shooters versus the protesters is a matter of some disagreement and dispute.
This morning, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar making no bones about what was at stake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON BELMAR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE CHIEF: Those are hard hits. We're lucky by God's grace we didn't lose two officers last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in Jeff Roorda from the St. Louis Police Officers' Association. He's a retired police officer.
And, Jeff, you're friends with one of the officers who was hit last night, the 41-year-old who has been on the force for about 16 years. He was shot in the right shoulder. How is he doing?
JEFF ROORDA, ST. LOUIS POLICE OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION: He's doing remarkably well considering the seriousness of his injuries. He was up and about. He didn't want his family to worry about him. He wanted them to see him functioning normally. So, that's what he was trying to do was have his normal day as you can have after being shot.
TAPPER: And the 32-year-old other officer shot -- from a local force -- shot right above, cheekbone, below his eye. The bullet still lodged behind his ear. Have you talked to him? Do you know how he is?
ROORDA: I have not. I know that he's been released from the hospital. He's at home with his loved ones. They have not removed the bullet. I think there's a concern of nerve damage if they try to remove it.
TAPPER: So, theoretically, the bullet might stay there?
ROORDA: That happens sometimes with these injuries, yes.
TAPPER: And what are police doing right now to try to figure out who was behind this? As you know, it's not that unusual in this neighborhood to occasionally hear gunfire in the background but there are no actual casualties. This obviously, a different kind of incident. Have they found the shell casings? Have they -- are they able to trace, figure out what kind of gun it was?
ROORDA: Well, first of all, I don't know how different this is. You know, there has been active attempts to shoot officers for months here. In August and November, officers were shot at. By the grace of God, they weren't hit.
But last night, the violent elements of these protests got what they wanted which was officers laying in the street bleeding.
TAPPER: And what are they doing right now to try to figure out who did this?
ROORDA: They are pursuing, actively pursuing some leads. There are suspects that they are talking to and witnesses and folks that they want to talk to.
TAPPER: Now, you have said that this is what protesters want, dead cops. We have spoken to a number of protesters today who don't want dead cops and they say they are praying for the officers. Who are you talking about?
ROORDA: Well, let's acknowledge that there are two different groups of very different intent. There is peaceful protesters who are out here that have a message they are trying to share with the world. But then amongst them, there are folks that have some really violent intentions and when they are mixed together, that usually happens after dark, it's a deadly situation not just for police officers but for the peaceful elements of the crowd and for the folks that live around here.
TAPPER: You have said that some politicians have thrown kerosene on the fire here. Who specifically are you talking about?
ROORDA: Well, I'm very upset with the Attorney General Holder, the way he rolled out the Department of Justice findings instead of putting this myth that Darren Wilson gunned down Michael Brown in cold blood as he was attempting to surrender to bed finally. He couldn't quite bring himself to say that. Instead, he pivoted immediately to this Justice Department report about traffic tickets and some really reprehensible e-mails. But we never really got the closure on the reason these protests began in the first place.
TAPPER: So, you accuse him. He today described, he said that he wanted justice. Cops have a right to go home safely. He referred to the shooter as a damn punk.
Is that more of what you would like to hear or do you have (INAUDIBLE) from him?
ROORDA: That's what I would like to hear and I would like to hear more of it.
But from law enforcement's perspective, it is kind of too little, too late. This is an attorney general that was part of this chorus that had Darren Wilson guilty before the first shred of evidence returned. TAPPER: To your issue, just to clarify, you don't have an issue with
the DOJ report. You just think that could have come out at a different time and they first could have come out with what is also in the report which is, for instance, they do not think that "hands up, don't shoot" actually happened --
ROORDA: That's right.
TAPPER: -- in the DOJ report, you say that.
ROORDA: Right. I would think that that's sort of burying the lead. People weren't marching around saying "hands up, don't write me a ticket." They were marching around saying "hands up, don't shoot." And until we dispel this myth, the temper of the crowd is going to continue to be high.
TAPPER: What should happen with the police department here? Should it disband as happened in Jennings, a local community, when the force was found to have a lot of problems and St. Louis County just took over?
ROORDA: Listen, I don't know how the police department the size of Ferguson bears the weight of a federal consent decree. Big departments like Albuquerque and Seattle can barely stand that weight. So, I expect Ferguson probably will not be a police department for much longer.
TAPPER: It will not be?
ROORDA: That's my suspicion.
TAPPER: All right. Jeff Roorda, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Please tell the police officers we are praying for them.
ROORDA: I will. Thank you.
TAPPER: I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Coming up, the shooting is being called an ambush that was designed to target the officers positioned outside the Ferguson police station. So, how was the shooter or shooters able to do it? Next, a detailed look at the science and scene of the crime.
Plus, how is Michael Brown's family reacted today? We will ask a representative for the family ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Welcome back THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
Just to remind you of that breaking news, county police, St. Louis County police and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, taking over for security for Ferguson, Missouri this evening, where I am standing right now outside the Ferguson Police Department.
Our national lead once again, tension here in Ferguson, Missouri. This time after the shooting of two police officers. It happened as a large group gathered to protest right across from Ferguson police headquarters. The demonstration was in response to the police chief resigning yesterday in the wake of that federal report finding a pattern of racial discrimination in his department.
The crowd was just starting to clear, according to witnesses, when someone fired the shots. Witnesses say the gunfire came from up on a hill behind them, but police believe the shots came from among them, among the protesters.
Let's try to give you a better lay of the land here to show you where everything went down.
CNN's Tom Foreman joining me now.
Tom, the map perspective can help explain more than perhaps some close-up camera angles. Walk us through it.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it can. And we can look at it from several different angles.
There's the police station where you are, Jake. You can see the big road in front of it. That is South Florissant Road, that's where most of the protests have been occurring, on that road.
But notice this road that goes off to the side, Tiffin Avenue. We mark it here in red. In the past, people have said many of the more violent interlopers in these protesters have come from Tiffin Avenue, up this direction at least, and there have been shots there.
So, what happened in this circumstance? From this perspective, we know that after midnight, there were still police officers in front of the station. We marked it there in blue. Across the street, there was still about 100 protesters according to eyewitnesses. We marked that in yellow.
