A black man was shot several times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday showing a video of a bystander sparking community protests and widespread anger.
The incident comes just three months after the murder of George Floyd police officer in Minneapolis police station.
The man, identified by his family as Jacob Blake, 29, is in serious condition at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, the Kenosha Police Department said in a statement. The family has since confirmed that Blake is out of surgery and is stable.
Police released few details about what happened, but said officers responded to a domestic incident at 5:11 a.m. (6:11 pm ET) and “were involved in an officer-involved shooting.”
The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, according to a statement from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Raysean White, 22, who filmed the video, told NBC News that the incident first caught his attention when he heard a group of women arguing over the street noise of his apartment.
“Then the man who was shot did,” White said. “He got in his truck, got out of his truck, saw him coming up. His son walked up to him. He picked up his son. He told his son to get in the gray truck, we were going to leave. “
Minutes later, White said he looked out of his window again to see “police wrestling” with the man, who was later identified as Blake, behind the car.
White said he saw the female officer Blake promised. White said he then began recording the incident, so it is unclear what exactly happened before the video begins.
“They also dropped the knife,” White said. “I did not see any weapons in his hands. He was not violent.”
The video shows Blake driving in front of the car to try to get in the driver’s steering wheel. It is at this point that shots are fired.
“I was freaked out,” White said. “And then I saw the mother of the child that came in the truck, I saw her get the little boy out of the truck. He must have been 4.5, 6 (years old) when that range.”
Blake’s partner, Laquisha Booker, told WTMJ, the NBC branch in Milwaukee, that she and Jacob had three children together, and the children were sitting in the back seat of the car when police shot their father.
“That man literally grabbed him by his shirt and looked the other way and just shot him. With the kids in his back crying. Scream,” Booker said.
Booker also said Blake was unarmed.
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“It makes no sense for you to treat such a man as unarmed. He does not throw punch or anything,” Booker said.
Local police were not immediately available for comment from White and Booker.
Anger over the incident sparked protests across the city, causing dump trucks to catch fire and smashing windows of a public library, according to video on social media.
A reporter for NBC News affiliate WTMJ said the windows of police cars were also smeared. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department issued a state of emergency late Sunday and erected a castle that bans people on the streets until 7 a.m. local time this morning.
“Yesterday, Jacob Blake was shot several times in the back, in broad daylight,” Gov. Tony Evers released a statement. “While we do not yet have all the details, what we are sure of is that he is not the first Black man as a person to have been injured or injured or ruthlessly murdered at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state as our country.
Evers said he stands with those who demand justice and accountability.
The Kenosha Police Department said the division of criminal investigations before the Wisconsin Department of Justice would investigate the shooting.
Sarah Kaufman and Kurt Chirbas contributed.
