Arrest Made in Ferguson Cop-Shooter Case — but Suspected Shooter Makes a Strange Claim

An arrest has been made in connection with the Thursday shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, St. Louis County police announced Sunday afternoon — but the suspect claimed he was shooting at fellow protesters, not police.

Jeffrey Williams. (Image via St. Louis County Police)

Ferguson demonstrator Jeffrey Williams, 20, was charged with two felony counts of first-degree assault, firing a weapon from a vehicle and three counts of armed criminal action, St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch said.

Shooting suspect Jeffrey Williams' booking shot, he's set to turn 21 in a few weeks #ferguson pic.twitter.com/fzFLmv05LU

— Megan Specia (@meganspecia) March 15, 2015

"This investigation I wanna stress is ongoing, there's still a lot to be done," he said.

St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch during a Sunday press conference announcing the arrest of shooting suspect Jeffrey Williams. (Image via NBC)

McCulloch said Williams "acknowledged firing the shots" but claimed that he was not targeting police, but rather that he had a dispute with others in the crowd.

It's possible there was a dispute with someone else, "and it's possible he was targeting police officers," McCulloch said.

"We're not 100 percent sure there was a dispute [between protesters]," McCulloch added, confirming that Williams was a demonstrator and that he had a warrant out prior to the shooting for a probation violation of "receiving stolen property."

McCulloch also said police had recovered a handgun that seemed linked to the shooting.

McCulloch credited members of the public for providing the information that proved crucial to tracking down and arresting Williams.

Police had initially announced the arrest on Twitter before conducting a press conference later in the afternoon.

An arrest has been made in connection with the shooting of two police officers in #Ferguson. Thank you for your help. #saferstl

— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) March 15, 2015

The two officers — one 41, one 32 — were shot just after midnight Thursday in what police sources described as an "ambush."

One officer took a bullet to the shoulder and the other was shot in the face, but both officers survived the shooting "by God's grace," St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said Thursday.

In the Sunday press conference, Belmar thanked the public and said of the wounded officers, "They're getting better, not worse."

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar during a Sunday press conference announcing the arrest of shooting suspect Jeffrey Williams. (Image via NBC)

While the months of protests in Ferguson have revolved around issues of race and police violence, both Belmar and McCulloch avoided noting Williams' race throughout the Sunday press conference.

It wasn't until a reporter asked point-blank — the final question of the press conference — "What is the ethnicity of Jeffrey Williams?" that Belmar provided that information.

"Jeffrey Williams is African-American," he responded before stepping away from the microphone.

This story has been updated.

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Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter