2 FBI agents shot while assisting St. Louis police

FERGUSON, Mo. — Two FBI agents were shot and wounded at a house in north St. Louis County early on Wednesday, though the incident was “not directly related” to racially charged unrest in and around nearby Ferguson, an agency spokeswoman said.

One agent was shot in the shoulder and the other was shot in the leg while assisting local police in executing an arrest warrant, FBI spokeswoman Rebecca Wu said in a brief statement. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

“The incident is not directly related to the Ferguson protests,” Wu said, but did not elaborate further.

Some 2,000 National Guard troops helped ward off a second night of rampant arson and looting in suburban St. Louis after a grand jury declined to indict a white policeman in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager, and sympathy protests spread to several U.S. cities.

The Wednesday morning incident involving the FBI agents followed hours after a clash between police and protesters in Ferguson.

Despite a beefed-up military presence in Ferguson, a police car was torched near City Hall as darkness fell, and police fired smoke bombs and tear gas to scatter protesters.

Additional reporting by Eric M. Johnson from Seattle.