Two shot and wounded in Ferguson

Two people have been shot and wounded and 31 arrested in the latest night of unrest in the Missouri town of Ferguson, rocked by a racially charged killing.

The wounded were hit by gunfire from demonstrators in the mid-western town, not police, Captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol said.

Police did not open fire on the crowd.

He said police fired tear gas as a last resort to disperse the crowd in this mainly black town with a mainly white police force.

The condition of the two people wounded by gunfire was not immediately known.

Four police were also injured by thrown objects, and some of the protesters in the crowd of about 200 came from as far away as New York and California, Capt Johnson said.

Tensions flared in the Missouri town after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by officers attending a robbery call on August 9.

A candlelight vigil to honour Brown turned violent the following night after in emerged that the teenager had been unarmed at the time he was killed.

Violence and rioting continued for a week after Brown’s death, ultimately resulting in Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declaring a state of emergency for the Ferguson area.

Despite a curfew being imposed, conflict escalated over the weekend with one person being shot as police and protesters clashed.

Governor Nixon ordered the National Guard into Ferguson yesterday after rioters shot and threw Molotov cocktails at police.