Protesters, police clash following fatal shooting

A crowd of protesters skirmished with police Saturday night in a Milwaukee neighborhood where an officer shot and killed a man after a traffic stop and foot chase earlier in the day, setting fire to a police car and torching a gas station. One officer was hurt by a thrown brick.

Police said the 23-year-old man was armed with a handgun, but Assistant Chief Bill Jessup told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it wasn’t immediately clear whether the man had pointed a gun or fired at the officer. They described the man as a suspect but didn’t say what led to the traffic stop.

The races of the man and the officer weren’t immediately released.

Police with shields and helmets moved slowly into an intersection after 11 p.m., telling a crowd of about 50 people to disperse. Protesters threw rocks and other debris at police, who held up their shields. At least two bus shelters had been thrown into the street, with their glass shattered.

Protesters also began throwing objects at a business a half-block from the intersection. A nearby traffic light was bent over.

Police tweeted that shots had been fired and arrests were being made.

It was at least the second confrontation at the intersection, following an earlier standoff involving more than 100 people pushing against 20 to 30 officers. Officers got in their cars to leave at one point and some in the crowd started smashing a squad car’s windows. Another police car was set on fire. The newspaper also reported that one of its reporters was shoved to the ground and punched.