(Newswire.net — August 15, 2016) —Saturday evening in Milwaukee, a police officer fatally shot an armed man Police have said that the victim was armed with a handgun and shot by an officer after fleeing a traffic stop on Milwaukee’s north side, reports NBC News.
According to Milwaukee police, the incident occured when police officers stopped a car on Saturday at about 3:30pm and the men inside fled. The 23-year-old man killed by the police and another suspect ditched the car and ran after they were stopped at N. 44th St. and W. Auer Ave, leading to a chase.
A few hours after, an estimated 100 people started protesting. Angry crowds threw stones, smashing a police car and setting fire to another. They also set a gas station on fire at Sherman & Burleigh. Gunshots were heard, and an officer was injured by a flying brick.
The Milwaukee Common Council President, Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, called for calm and explained at the press conference that there was a crowd and violence in the city.
Police have identified the 23 year-old as Sylville Smith. It wasn’t clear if the gun was pointed at the officer, but Milwaukee’s mayor said that he believes the officer involved had a body camera on at the time of the shooting. Facts will come out in the coming days, police have said.
All they know at the moment is that the man who was shot was carrying a semi-automatic handgun stolen in a burglary in March this year.
Police have not released the name of the officer involved in the shooting.
This is still a very tense situation, Milwaukee Assistant Police Chief James Harpole explained to the reporters. He added that a lot of people are outside.
“This is a situation where we are asking every resident of this community to do everything they can to restore order,” Mayor Tom Barrett said at a news conference early Sunday, and added: “If you love your son, if you love your daughter, text them, call them, pull them by the ears and get ’em home.”