St. Louis police officer Jay Shroeder says he and fellow officers came under heavy gunfire during the riots Monday night, KSDK reports.

“We had to pull a police car down and get behind the engine block. We had to move some dumpsters into the street to take cover,” he said. “We had some concrete barricades and barriers, I guess from a loading dock, and then we were using brick structures that were holding a fence.

“We had about 20 policemen taking cover wherever they could. It was insane. And they were actively shooting for a half hour. I had some people that were military vets that were in our group and they said it was like being in Iraq, without the protection.”

Schroeder said he and the others felt safe to emerge from their makeshift bunker in the area of Washington and Tucker when the county and city SWAT teams arrived and used tear gas.

“That was the only way we were getting out. I mean, they were moving around us. They were moving in and out of cars firing rounds. If we wouldn't have had their response, we would have been stuck there I don't know how long and somebody, I mean a policeman, was going to get hurt. They were definitely trying to hurt policemen.”

Four city police officers were shot Monday during the mayhem. They suffered non-life-threatening injuries.