Fresh protests have erupted after a US police officer allegedly shot dead a young black man during a traffic stop in a suburb of Minneapolis.
The shooting comes during the ongoing trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing murder charges over the death of George Floyd.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the police station in Brooklyn Center, northwest of Minneapolis, Sunday night as Police fired teargas and flash bangs at the demonstrators.
The mother of Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old black man, told a crowd earlier Sunday evening that he called her to say he had been pulled over by police, local media reported.
Katie Wright said she heard officers tell her son to put his phone down, and then one of the officers ended the call. Soon after, her son’s girlfriend told her he had been shot.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed it is “investigating an officer-involved shooting incident” in Brooklyn Center but declined to identify the victim
A statement from the Brooklyn Center Police Department, said officers pulled over a driver for a traffic violation. When they discovered he had an outstanding warrant, they tried to take him into custody.
He got back into his car, and one of the officers fired their weapon, striking the driver, who died at the scene.
A female passenger in the car suffered “non-life threatening injuries” and was transported to a local hospital, said the statement, which did not identify the woman.
