By Jessica D’Onofrio /ABC 7 Chicago/ – A Kenosha police shooting that left a man injured Sunday afternoon and was captured on video led to protests overnight.
The Black man was shot multiple times as he tried to get into a vehicle, with some of the incident captured on cellphone video.
The man, identified by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers as Jacob Blake, is in serious condition, according to the Kenosha Police Department.
Video posted on social media Sunday show one officer grabbing the man’s shirt from behind and then firing into the vehicle.
The shooting happened after 5 p.m. Sunday in the 2800-block of 40th Street when officers responded to a domestic incident, according to police.
In the video posted earlier on social media that appeared to show the shooting from across a street, three officers could be seen shouting and pointing their weapons at Blake as he walked around the front of a parked SUV. As Blake opened the driver’s side door and leaned inside, one officer grabbed his shirt from behind and then fired into the vehicle.
Seven shots could be heard on the video, though it was unclear if more than one officer fired.
“That don’t make no sense to treat somebody like that, who is not armed, with the kids in the back screaming,” Blake’s fiance, Laquisha Booke said.
Blake’s fiancée says two of her children were in the back of the car where he was shot and that Blake was unarmed.
Neighbors confronted law enforcement at the scene and then crowds started marching in the streets. They headed to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building, which authorities had mostly blocked off.
Protesters faced off with officers who were dressed in riot gear that included plastic face masks.
Officers held plastic shields and batons that they occasionally used to push people back.
Police used pepper balls in the confrontation. Several garbage trucks were set on fire. Protesters also spray-painted on the Kenosha County Courthouse.
A fire was started in the ground floor of the courthouse. Those fires are now under control.
By late Sunday, there were reports that some people lit several dump trucks on fire, smashed cars, broke windows, and threw bleach bombs as crowds faced off with law enforcement.
Officers in riot gear stood in lines and SWAT vehicles remained on the streets to move people away from city buildings despite the declaration of an overnight curfew.
Tear gas was used to disperse groups of people, according to reporters at the scene.
It is unclear if any arrests were made and as of right now there were no reports of injuries to officers.
Read the full story at ABC 7 Chicago
