Two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, were shot early on Thursday in what officials describe as "an ambush" during a protest demonstration.

The shots were fired just as a small crowd of protesters began to disperse after holding a demonstration that began on Wednesday.

According to officials, someone in the crowd of demonstrators opened fire on the officers who were standing in front the Ferguson Police Department. Fortunately, the two officers did not suffer from life-threatening injures and were released from the hospital Thursday morning, reports ABC News. However, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said that both men could have easily died in the gunfire.

"This is really an ambush is what it is," Belmar said, according to Reuters. "You can't see it coming. You don't understand that it's going to happen. You are basically defenseless from the fact that it is happening to you."

"We could have buried two police officers next week over this," he added, referring to the 32-year-old officer who was shot in the face and the 41-year-old cop who was shot in the shoulder, reports The Associated Press.

Marciay Pitchford, 20, said she was among the protesters when she heard multiple gun shots.

"I saw the officer go down and the other police officers drew their guns while other officers dragged the injured officer away," Pitchford said. "All of a sudden everybody started running or dropping to the ground."

"These police officers were standing there and they were shot, just because they were police officers," Belmar told reporters during a news conference on Thursday.

Police have launched a manhunt in search of the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting.

Before the shootings, demonstrators held a peaceful rally in front of the city's police headquarters hours after Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson announced his resignation.

The shootings come after months of protests and outrage demanding justice for Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager who was shot by a white cop in August 2014. Although former Officer Darren Wilson was not charged in the shooting, the Justice Department released a scathing report that revealed the Ferguson Police Department was guilty of systemic racism against African-American residents in the St. Louis suburb.