President Obama denounced Thursday the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Mo., saying the gunman needs to be arrested.
“There’s no excuse for criminal acts. Whoever fired those shots shouldn’t detract from the issue. They’re criminals,” Obama told ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel during an otherwise light interview with the late-night host. “They need to be arrested. And then what we need to do is make sure that like-minded, good-spirited people on both sides, law-enforcement who have a terrifically tough job and people who understand they don’t want to be stopped and harassed because of their race, that we’re able to work together to try and come up with some good answers.”
Police are still searching for the gunman who shot two police officers in a protest outside the Ferguson Police Department. The violent clash came just hours after Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced his resignation on Wednesday.
Authorities said late Thursday that nobody was in custody for the shootings. The two officers were taken to the hospital with “serious injuries” and have since been released.
The latest sign of tensions in the streets of Ferguson has stoked fears about the types of violent protests that came in the wake of the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown last year.
Obama told Kimmel that his prayers were with the wounded officers, their families and friends.
