A few weeks ago , two officers—one from the Webster Groves Police Department and one from the St. Louis County Police Department—were shot by a gunman at what started as a peaceful protest and quickly took a turn for the worst.

The suspected shooter, Jeffrey Williams, shot one officer in the face and another in the shoulder, incapacitated both of them and caused wide-spread panic among the many protesters and police officers that were on the scene.

First and foremost, this was not just an accidental shooting, or even one that happened in the heat of the moment.

It was clear from both amateur videos and witness testimonies that this was a planned, thought-out attack.
This ambush had to have been meticulously planned by a coward who decided he would shoot two officers from the middle of a large crowd.
On top of this, the shooter had to have been incompetent, thankfully, since he or she failed to kill either one of the officers at point blank range.

I mean, taking pot shots at unsuspecting standing officers clearly has to be a difficult task if this moron failed to do it.

But instead of berating this worthless piece of human trash, I would rather focus on the finer issue: that an action like this does nothing but separate two already polarized groups.

I am almost positive everyone has heard about what happened at Ferguson last year, and as such I would be beating a dead horse if I recalled the events that transpired in this small community.

However, the repercussions of what happened in Ferguson are still felt nationwide: many people were and are still protesting “police brutality,” especially at Ferguson. Hell, a peaceful protest is where all of this action went down.
But the shooting of these officers does nothing to mend any torn feelings between the police and the protesters.

If anything, it makes the tensions felt between the two groups exponentially worse because now police officers all across the nation will be fearful and worried there could be a potential assassin hidden among the ranks of peaceful protesters.
They might be more inclined to dole out punishment more harshly since they will be more afraid for their lives, which will in turn cause a negative reaction from the peaceful protesters who never even wanted violence in.

It will be a never ending response of push and shove between the two groups, and unfortunately, it will lead to more problems than answers.
So what is the right course of action in a situation like this?
Hopefully whoever was behind this heinous crime will be caught, tried and punished to the fullest extent of the law.

It would be optimistic to hope that no one else gets this sort of idea, though if we remember the two NYPD officers who were executed for a reason similar to the reason that got these two officers shot, then these thoughts seem more of a dream than a reality.
Hopefully, we as a society will be able to ban together and stop not only police brutality, but also the retaliation against officers of the law.

At the end of the day, the men and women in blue are human just like me and you.
They have families and loved ones, hopes and dreams; none of these should be erased due to the deranged thoughts of one coward who was able to get a gun.