Gunfire erupts during Ferguson anniversary protest

Police officers have shot a young black man who reportedly opened fire on them in Ferguson, Missouri, during a protest to mark the first anniversary of the police killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

The identity and condition of the shot person is as yet unknown.

“The St. Louis County Police Department was involved in an officer-involved shooting after officers came under heavy gunfire,” county police spokesman Shawn McGuire said in a written statement. “We are working as quickly as possible to get details of the incident.”

A police press conference is expected later.

The gunshots erupted as police officers were trying to disperse a crowd of protestors who had started blocking traffic and smashing windows. A news crew captured the chaos of the moment, as unsuspecting citizens scrambled for cover.

An onlooker tweeted a video of an officer standing near a purportedly injured man lying on the ground.

“Hey, he’s bleeding!” the videographer yells to police. “Please get him some help. He’s bleeding out, please get him some help, man.”

In another video, police can be seen detaining the main who had yelled for help.

The user later tweeted that he was eventually released, but had suffered a small cut under his eye from being shoved into a chain-link fence.

Earlier on Sunday, hundreds of people stood silent for four and a half minutes at the spot where Michael Brown was killed, representing the number of hours that his body lay in the street, unattended.