Man Filmed Driving Car into George Floyd Protesters, Opens Fire in Seattle
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A man began shooting after he was filmed driving his car into a barricade at a protest against police brutality in Seattle's Capitol Hill area.
The driver reportedly has been arrested after injuring one person, before fleeing the scene.
Video of the incident shows the man ramming a police barricade during a George Floyd rally in Seattle on Sunday. About a dozen protesters rushed towards his car and began hitting it, before scattering after the man appeared to fire his gun out the window. He then exited the vehicle with his gun drawn as protesters scattered. He was apprehended shortly thereafter by police, RT reported.
Seattle Fire Department has reported that one person was shot at the intersection of 11th Ave. and Pine St, where the incident unfolded. A male victim has been taken to hospital and is in a stable condition, they said.
No further information was immediately available, but speculation swirled on social media as many remarked that the man appeared to be making a beeline for the police after firing several shots. The identity of the suspect who rammed the barricade, as well as his motives, are yet unknown.
An on-the-spot interview with the shooting victim revealed the man knew his assailant.
As he was being led from the scene by emergency responders, the man said that he immediately rushed to the car and “punched [the shooter] in the face” before the gun went off.
While some of the protests that have seized the US in the past two weeks following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis have descended into violence, this weekend’s demonstrations had been peaceful prior to Sunday’s incident.