A 19-year-old man was killed and another person was in critical condition after a pre-dawn shooting in Seattle’s protest zone, authorities said on Saturday.
The shooting happened at about 3am in the area near downtown known as the Chaz, short for “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone”, police said in a statement on Twitter.
Seattle’s police department claimed in a press release on Saturday morning that when officers responded to reports of gunshots inside the protest zone, they “were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims”.
Police were later informed that the protesters’ own medics transported the two gunshot wound victims to a hospital, the department said.
Two males with gunshot wounds arrived in a private vehicle at Harborview medical center at about 3am, said a hospital spokeswoman, Susan Gregg. The 19-year-old man died and the other person was in critical condition in intensive care.
Sgt Lauren Truscott of Seattle police told the Seattle Times she did not know if police had taken anyone into custody and had no immediate details about how the shooting unfolded.
Investigators were reviewing public-source video and body-camera video for clues and authorities planned to disclose more information about the shooting later, Truscott said.
Protesters have cordoned off several blocks near a police station in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, in the wake of demonstrations against police violence since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis several weeks ago.
Police have largely retreated from the zone after clashes with protesters ended with people throwing things at police and police teargassing people and using other crowd control munitions.
City officials have said they are still communicating with protest leaders, who had pledged to keep the peace in the zone.
The situation has drawn the continued ire of Donald Trump. His tweets about possibly sending in the military have been met with condemnation from the Seattle mayor, Jenny Durkan, and Washington governor, Jay Inslee, both Democrats.
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