Latest on shooting of 2 police officers in Ferguson
CLAYTON, Mo. -- Investigators were still seeking a suspect or suspects in the shooting of two police officers during a protest earlier in the week outside the Ferguson, Missouri police station.
St. Louis County Police chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference that dozens of leads were being investigated. No one is in custody, and Belmar would not say if police are close to making an arrest.
The two officers, whose names have not been made public, have been released from the hospital and are "doing remarkably well," according to Belmar.
"We were an inch away from a tragedy with these officers," Belmar said. "I wouldn't want to roll those dice."
Early Thursday morning, at least three shots were fired as demonstrators gathered at the Ferguson police headquarters, hours after embattled chief Tom Jackson resigned.
Authorities said a 32-year-old officer from nearby Webster Groves was shot in the face and a 41-year-old officer from St. Louis County was shot in the shoulder.
Both Belmar and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called the shooting "an ambush."
"What happened last night was a pure ambush," Holder said Thursday. "This was not someone trying to bring healing to Ferguson, this was a damn punk who was trying to sow discord."
President Barack Obama took to Twitter to relay his prayers to the officers and to denounce violence against police as unacceptable. "Path to justice is one all of us must travel together," Obama wrote, signing the tweet with his initials to indicate the president personally composed it.
Belmar told reporters Friday that investigators aren't sure what type of weapon was used by the gunman or gunmen and whether police were intentionally targeted.
"We have a general idea where the shots came from," Belmar said, adding that surveillance tape was being reviewed.
The shots were believed to come from a handgun fired across the street from the police department, which has been a national focal point since the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed, by a white police officer.
"I wouldn't characterize this as a miracle shot," Belmar Friday. "You have three shots fired, two hit. This doesn't have to be a marksman with a scope."
More than $10,000 has been donated to establish a reward for information about the shooting. Belmar said additional funds were still being offered.
Two men, a woman and a child who were taken into custody for questioning Thursday after a SWAT team searched a home were later released without being charged, CBS affiliate KMOV reported.
Protests on Thursday night were peaceful but tensions remained high, with demonstrators calling for Ferguson's mayor to leave office.
Demonstrations have continued virtually nonstop since August and escalated in late November, after a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to file criminal charges against Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
The Department of Justice announced last week that there was insufficient evidence to charge Wilson with violating Brown's civil rights.
However, a separate Justice Department investigation found the city of Ferguson displayed sweeping patterns of racial discrimination against the black community. Six city employees have either resigned or been fired since the report was released 10 days ago, including Jackson and City Manager John Shaw.
"Let me be clear, this type of behavior will not be tolerated in the Ferguson Police Department or in any department in the city of Ferguson," Mayor James Knowles said last week.