A video published online Sunday shows police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin shooting a black man as he gets into a car.
The footage circulating on social media shows two cops with guns drawing a man kicking on Sunday afternoon as he walks to a gray van and opens the driver’s side door to enter.
One of the officers then grabs him by the back of his tank top and appears to shoot him at close range. A fusillade can be heard, followed by a car horn, and bystanders screaming.
The Kenosha Police Department said in a statement that politicians responded to a domestic incident at about 5:10 a.m. when they were “involved in an officer-involved shooting.”
The victim of the gun – identified as 29-year-old Jacob Blake – was airlifted to Froedtert Hospital and was called in serious condition, cops said.
A family member told Milwaukee WTMJ-TV that Blake’s children were sitting in the car when police shot their father.
At least half a dozen witnesses told the Kenosha News that the man was trying to break up a fight between two women. They said cops teased him and that they heard seven gunshots ring.
A large crowd gathered later on Sunday at the shooting scene, with some people climbing on top of cars and breaking windows, local reports said.
Governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers issued a statement Sunday evening in support of the victim.
“Jacob Blake was shot several times in the back, in broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin,” Evers tweeted. “Kathy and I are joining his family, friends and neighbors in the hope that he will not die for his injuries.”
Evers also showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement and called for accountability when unrest began to rattle Kenosha.
“We stand with all those who have the right and continue to demand justice, self-worth and responsibility for Black lives in our country – lives like those of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony Robinson, Dontre Hamilton, Ernest Lacy, and Sylville. Smith, “he wrote.
“In the coming days, we will demand just that of elected officials in our state who have not recognized racism in our state and our country for too long.”
The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Criminal Investigation Department will launch a probe into the incident.
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