Evgen_Prozhyrko/iStock(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — A crowd of protesters clashed with authorities at the scene of an officer-involved shooting in Memphis, Tennessee Wednesday night.
Some people hurled rocks and bricks at Memphis Police Department officers and Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies, who were armed with plastic riot shields. At least 24 officers and deputies were injured, including six who had to be taken to the hospital, according to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.
The protesters took to the streets after news that officers with the United States Marshals Services shot and killed a man outside a home in north Memphis on Wednesday.
The officers were attempting to stop the man, who was wanted on multiple warrants, as he was getting into his vehicle. He allegedly rammed his car multiple times into the officers’ vehicles and then got out, holding a weapon. The officers fired at the man, killing him, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting.
No officers were injured in the incident, TBI said.
The Memphis Police Department said its officers received a call for assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, but no police officer was involved in the fatal shooting.
The TBI said the investigation remains active and ongoing and it will share its findings with the district attorney general.
Protesters gathered at the crime scene and chaos ensued. Multiple police cars were vandalized, the windows at a nearby fire station were shattered and a concrete wall outside a local business was torn down, according to the city’s mayor.
“I was proud of our first responders,” Strickland said in a statement. “I’m impressed by their professionalism and incredible restraint as they endured concrete rocks being thrown at them and people spitting at them.”
“Let me be clear,” he added, “the aggression shown towards our officers and deputies tonight was unwarranted.”
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