A young father was shot in the back by a police officer seven times as his children were sitting in the backseats of his car and watching the tragedy unfold.
The incident happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where 29-year-old Jacob Blake was reportedly trying to solve a dispute between two women at a nearby home at around 5 pm on Sunday.
Responding to the domestic incident were also Kenosha police officers who allegedly attempted to subdue the father with a taser after he failed to comply upon their arrival.
In a video obtained by TMX, Blake is seen walking away from the officers and making his way to the other side of his car. Meanwhile, two officers followed him with their guns pointed at the man’s back.
After the father, whose three children were in the car during the incident, reached and opened the driver’s door, he was shot in the back at least seven times by one or two of the police officers that followed him.
After the shooting, the 29-year-old was rushed to the hospital where he, as of this writing, remains in a stable condition according to his family.
“We all watched the horrific video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back several times by Kenosha Police. Even worse, his three sons witnessed their father collapse after being riddled with bullets,” the family’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, said.
“Their irresponsible, reckless and inhumane actions nearly cost the life of a man who was simply trying to do the right thing by intervening in a domestic incident. It’s a miracle he’s alive.”
Following the shooting of the father, furious protesters and residents took to the streets to denounce law enforcement and show support for Black Lives Matter.
According to the reports, protesters confronted the police, set vehicles on fire, and smashed windows of police cruisers. In another video that has been circulating social media, a police officer is seen collapsing to the ground after being hit by a brick according to witnesses.
Amid demonstrations that turned violent, the Kenosha County authorities declared a state of emergency.
Replaced!