Gunfire heard at protest outside Ferguson police department

Protestors chant on the steps of the City of Ferguson Police Department and Municipal Court in Ferguson Missouri, March 11, 2015. REUTERS

FERGUSON: Gunfire was heard at a protest outside the Ferguson, Missouri, police department early on Thursday morning, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene.

A few dozen demonstrators fled following the sound with some screaming, "They hit a cop," around midnight, the photographer said. Police could not be reached immediately for comment.

Several dozen protesters had gathered in front of the Ferguson police department earlier on Wednesday night, just hours after the city's police chief, Thomas Jackson, announced his resignation.

Protesters had called for Jackson's removal since the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug 9, 2014. The killing triggered nationwide protests and drew scrutiny to police use of deadly force, especially against black men.

Jackson's departure was the latest in a string of officials who stepped down following a scathing report from the U.S. Justice Department that found widespread racially biased abuses in the city's police department and municipal court. – Reuters