St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar suggested on Thursday that the lingering tensions in Ferguson were to blame for the early morning shooting. Attorney General Eric Holder harshly condemned the "damn punk" responsible for shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri early Thursday morning, saying the incident "turned my stomach." Neither of the two officers was a member of the Ferguson force, though - one was a St. Louis County police officer, and another was from a nearby department in Webster Groves. Both were treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, but have been released. The bullet that hit the county officer in the right shoulder exited from the right side of his back, Belmar said. In his condemnation of the shootings, Holder recalled the words of his brother, who is a retired law enforcement officer. "I want to be very clear here: I unequivocally condemn these repugnant attacks," Holder said. "We could have buried two police officers next week because of this." "These police officers were standing there and they were shot, just because they were officers," he said. Belmar said he felt police have been fortunate since protests erupted in Ferguson in August after the police shooting of Michael Brown in that officers patrolling those protests have not been injured. In an earlier statement, Holder said the shooting threatens "the very reforms that nonviolent protesters in Ferguson and around the country have been working towards for the past several months." Speaking later Thursday, Holder described the shooting as the actions of a "damn punk" who was "trying to sow discord." The path of violence does not lead to justice.” 
 
 Added Cleaver in the statement: “What happened in Ferguson last night was a terrible tragedy, and we cannot stand idly by as others transgress. "All of us in the law enforcement family and all Americans across the country are praying for the safe recovery" of the two officers who were shot. "I'm concerned about escalating violence, especially against our officers," she said. "I would like to ask them come to us, tell us what we can do to continue to heal the community."
– He's out of the hospital and expected to be OK, but one of the two police officers shot last night in Ferguson still has a bullet lodged behind his ear. The 32-year-old got shot below his right eye, and the bullet ended up just below his right ear, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The other officer, 41, got hit in the right shoulder, and the bullet exited out his back. He's out of the hospital, too. Police haven't made any arrests in the shootings, but they took three people in for questioning this morning. "We're lucky by God's grace that we didn't lose those two officers last night," said St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar. "We could have buried two police officers next week because of this." Belmar called the attack an "ambush," and Eric Holder used the same word along with some stronger ones, reports CBS News. “This was not someone trying to bring healing to Ferguson," the attorney general said today. "This was a damn punk, a punk, who was trying to sow discord.” Protests are expected to resume tonight, and the Missouri Highway Patrol and St. Louis County Police will take the reins from the Ferguson department, whose chief resigned yesterday. Police think the bullets came from a pistol fired from across the street from the department. In amateur video, two shots are heard, followed by a man screaming in pain, reports AP. The voice of an unidentified person is heard saying, "Acknowledgement nine months ago would have kept that from happening."