St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Paul Hampel is reporting that a member of the media has had his or her Prius carjacked somewhere in Ferguson. What follows are unconfirmed tweets, some sourced from police scanners, but they do seem to back up the story.
Ferguson PD #scanner reports that a member of the media had their silver Toyota Prius w/ Illinois plates carjacked by 10-15 black males
— Big Ed (@Falconeddie1) November 26, 2014
Carjacking on West Florissant in #Ferguson
— Fiery Mad Redhead (@fierymadredhead) November 26, 2014
2 black males carjacked members of the media. Stole silver sedan with IL plates in #Ferguson.
— Fiery Mad Redhead (@fierymadredhead) November 26, 2014
Carjacking happened in Canfield near the Mike Brown memorial. #Ferguson
— Fiery Mad Redhead (@fierymadredhead) November 26, 2014
Update: Carjacking of media near Canfield Mike Brown memorial was done by 10-15 black males, not 2. Way to stay classy #Ferguson.
— Fiery Mad Redhead (@fierymadredhead) November 26, 2014
These tweets by Getty photographer Marcus DiPaola might or might not be related, but they do mention the Michael Brown memorial on Canfield Drive.
Was attacked and robbed at gunpoint at the memorial.
— Marcus J. DiPaola (@marcusdipaola) November 26, 2014
All reporters: PLEASE DO NOT GO TO CANFIELD MEMORIAL. Was attacked and robbed at gunpoint.
— Marcus J. DiPaola (@marcusdipaola) November 26, 2014
Also reported: the sound of shots fired on Canfield Drive.
My colleague @LisaBrownSTL just heard over police scanner a report of shots fired on Canfield Dr. Lots of those last night. #Ferguson
— Paul Hampel (@phampel) November 26, 2014
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Update: The Riverfront Times has more information about the crime reported at the Michael Brown memorial site. Jessica Lussenhop writes:
Emily Molli, a freelancer filing for Chinese network Xinhua News Agency, said she was standing behind the camera while her colleague Marcus DiPaola was filming. She said she saw a large group of young men wearing masks and carrying guns walk towards them.
…
…The reporters managed to make it inside the vehicle before the group caught up and began smashing the windows.
“One guy pulled [the car door] back open, got a gun out of his backpack and pointed it at my head. He tells me to get out of the car and give me the keys,” said Molli. “That’s what I did.”
“Fifteen to twenty males followed us with guns and hammers out,” confirmed DiPaola. “Every single one of them had masks on.”
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