Man Shot Dead by Police during Protests in Louisville (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A man in Louisville, US state of Kentucky, was shot and killed by police just after midnight Monday morning.
It is not clear if the man was shot by National Guard - who were brought in on Saturday to quell the unrest in the city - or by a police officer.
The man, understood to be the owner of a local barbecue restaurant, was killed shortly after midnight when a large crowd gathered in a parking lot after the 'dusk to dawn' 9pm curfew began, the Daily Mail reported.
Officers tried to break up the crowd when one person fired a shot at the police who shot back, WLKY reported.
It is unclear if the man who died is the one who first fired the shot.
Louisville Police Chief Steve Conrad called the man a 'protester', however witnesses said they were not part of the demonstrations.
The victim would be the first person killed by an officer during the nation-wide unrest.
Speaking at a press conference today, police chief Conrad said: 'It's very clear that many people do not trust the police. That is an issue we're going to work on and work through.'
His death comes just days after gunfire wounded at least seven people at another Louisville protest, this one following the death of Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in March.
One person was left in critical condition. Louisville's Mayor Greg Fischer said police officers did not fire the shots.
Protests have erupted up and down the country after white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on unarmed George Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds last week, despite Floyd's desperate repeated pleas for help crying, 'I can't breathe'. Floyd passed out and later died.
