A second-term St. Louis city alderman learned the hard way Sunday that no good deed goes unpunished after gunfire erupted in Ferguson, Missouri.

Alderman Antonio French has been a regular on the ground in the troubled city since protests first broke out after the death of Michael Brown, and he was there on Sunday when demonstrators marked the one year anniversary of Brown’s death.

At one point, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr. opened fire on police. As bystanders scrambled for cover, Harris — said to be a friend of Brown’s — was critically injured when police returned fire.

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French, who was once arrested in Ferguson for unlawful assembly after refusing a police order to disperse, noted on social media that he let several people take refuge from the hail of gunfire in Heal-STL, a storefront community outreach center he opened.

They repaid the kindness by robbing him of a number of laptops and iPads, according to French.

Tonight I let 4 guys run into the #HealSTL office to get away from the gunfire. While I was in the front, they stole laptops and iPads. SMH.

— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 10, 2015

French also re-tweeted a video capturing dramatic footage of the shooting just as it took place.

Shots fired amid unrest in #Ferguson. @AntonioFrench describes what he witnessed: http://t.co/flJH95TDSY #JDBnowhttps://t.co/helHRnFu9J

— José @ MSNBC (@JDBmsnbc) August 10, 2015

While one social media users thanked French for being willing to admit the crime occurred, others seemed to suggest he should have known better.

Here’s a sampling of the responses from Twitter:

@AntonioFrench thank you for admitting this. We have to deal with our youth. Hold them accountable, give them direction, have consequences

— James (@GodlyPghDad) August 10, 2015

@AntonioFrench @OmegaMan58 You expected something better of them?

— dKO’d (@LdyPerry) August 10, 2015

@AntonioFrench Well color me shocked! #Ferguson #CullTheHerd #ccot

— MoslemInChief-Obama (@RayRay180) August 10, 2015

@maxdecoy i feel it doesn’t discredit them as protesters

— TheGreatDebater (@iSpeakGuapanese) August 10, 2015

@AntonioFrench Ugh. Seriously people?! So sorry to hear they did this to you.

— Meg (@meghoulihan) August 10, 2015

. @AntonioFrench sorry but what exactly did you think would happen?

— Kyle (@kyle_ricci) August 10, 2015

@AntonioFrench @Rebel_Bill no good deed goes unpunished. So sorry your kindness was betrayed.

— Owlie17 (@Owlie17) August 10, 2015

@AntonioFrench you cannot expect good behavior from people like this. These aren’t concerned protestors, they’re predators.

— Bob (@stlbob234) August 10, 2015

@AntonioFrench but but they are good boys. Wake up!

— Blossom (@gamoffour) August 10, 2015