Three people have been shot – one fatally – as gunfire broke out during protests over the police shooting of a black man in Wisconsin, according to US media reports.
It comes on the third straight day of unrest, The New York Times reported, citing officials, after Jacob Blake was shot eight times in Kenosha on Sunday while trying to break up a fight between two women.
The 29-year-old has been left paralysed and “fighting for his life” – sparking angry protests in the city, with more than 30 businesses destroyed on Monday and around 200 protesters clashing with police after defying a curfew on Tuesday.
‘How dare we hate what we are, we are humans’
Footage posted on social media on Wednesday showed several people rushing towards a man firing at them with a gun.
One person falls to the ground. Several other shots are heard in the background.
Another video shared online of the aftermath shows a man with a severe arm wound sitting on the ground while he is tended to by a man holding a gun as police approach.
Mr Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson, said her son would be “very unpleased” if he could see the violence that had befallen the city since he was shot.
She added: “I’m really asking and encouraging everyone in Wisconsin and abroad to take a moment and examine your heart – citizens, police officers, firemen, clergy, politicians – do Jacob justice on this level and examine your heart.
“We need healing. As I pray for my son, healing physically, emotionally and spiritually, I also have been praying even before this for healing of our country.”
Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to push back protesters
The incident was captured in a graphic video apparently filmed by a bystander across the street – and protests have since continued to take place in the city, some have erupted into rioting and looting.
Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to push back demonstrators overnight who defied a dawn-to-dusk curfew and gathered outside a court building and adjacent park at the centre of the city.