1 dead after shots fired at protesters in Detroit: police

DETROIT — One person was killed in downtown Detroit after someone in an SUV fired shots into a crowd of people protesting George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis custody, a Detroit police spokeswoman said Saturday.

The shooting occurred about 11:30 p.m. Friday near Detroit’s Greektown entertainment district as officers were confronted with dozens of protesters, said Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood, a police department spokeswoman. She said an officer wasn’t involved in the shooting.

Kirkwood said the victim was a 19-year-old man, who was pronounced dead at the hospital. The suspect pulled up in a Dodge Durango and fired shots into the crowd, she said.

No details about the victim or the person who fired the shot or shots were immediately available, Kirkwood said.

A white former Minneapolis officer was charged with murder Friday in the death of Floyd, a black man who was handcuffed and pleaded for air as the officer pressed his knee on his neck for several minutes during the arrest.

Earlier in the evening a Detroit police commander was struck with a rock and hospitalized.

Officers, many in riot gear, confronted the protesters and formed lines across streets.

Dozens of arrests were made and that police say many were not Detroit residents, WJBK-TV reported.

By midnight, the crowd had thinned considerably as police shot canisters of gas toward the protesters.

The demonstration began earlier in the day and was peaceful as protesters marched by Detroit Police Headquarters. As evening wore on, some in the crowd became belligerent.

“We know that the individuals from outside the city of Detroit who converged at the protest location don’t represent this city,” Police Chief James Craig told reporters earlier in the evening.

The number of arrests and injuries were not immediately available. It also was not clear if any property was damaged.