A Black man was shot in the back multiple times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday, a bystander’s video showed, prompting community protests and widespread anger.
The incident comes just three months after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
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 stable.
Police released few details about what happened but said officers were responding to a domestic incident at 5:11 p.m. (6:11 p.m. 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 across the street from his apartment.
“Then the guy that got shot showed up,” White said. “He pulled up in his truck, got out his truck, seen him walk up. His son was running towards him. He was picking up his son. He told his son to get in the grey truck, we about to go.”
Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.
Minutes later, White said he looked out of his window again to see “police out there wrestling” with the man, who was later identified as Blake, behind the vehicle.
White said he saw the female officer tase Blake. White said he then started to record the incident so it is unclear what exactly transpired before the video starts.
“They were also yelling drop the knife,” White said. “I didn’t see any weapons in his hands, he wasn’t being violent.”
The video shows Blake walking in front of the vehicle to try and get into the driver’s seat. It is at this point that shots are fired.
“I was freaked out,” White said. “And then I seen the mother of the child that got in the truck, I seen her get the little boy out the truck. He had to be 4,5, 6 (years of age) or that range.”
Blake’s partner, Laquisha Booker, told WTMJ, the NBC affiliate in Milwaukee, that she and Jacob have three children together, and the children were in the back seat of the car when police shot their father.
“That man just literally grabbed him by his shirt and looked the other way and was just shooting him. With the kids in the back screaming. Screaming,” Booker said.
Booker also said Blake was unarmed.
Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics
“That don’t make sense that you treat somebody like that, who’s not armed. He ain’t throw no punch or nothing,” Booker said.
Local police were not immediately available to comment on White and Booker’s accounts.
Anger over the incident sparked protests across the city, which saw dump trucks set on fire and windows of a public library smashed, according to video on social media.
A reporter for NBC News affiliate WTMJ said the windows of police vehicles were also smashed. Police with riot gear appeared to arrive at the scene.
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department issued a state of emergency late Sunday and imposed a curfew prohibiting people from on the streets until 7 a.m. local time Monday.
“Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight,” Gov. Tony Evers released a statement. “While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country.
Evers said he stands with those who are demanding justice and accountability.
The Kenosha Police Department said the division of criminal investigations for the Wisconsin Department of Justice would investigate the shooting.
Caroline Radnofsky is a senior reporter for NBC News’ Social Newsgathering team based in London.
Sarah Kaufman and Kurt Chirbas
contributed.
