Demonstrations in Minneapolis to commemorate the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death were interrupted by gunshots on Tuesday. At least one person was reportedly been hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Associated Press international reporter Philip Crowther was in the middle of filming a news shot when the sound of multiple gunshots rang out.
“Here’s the moment shots were fired near George Floyd Square earlier this morning,” Crowther tweeted.
In the video, Crowther continued to speak for a moment as the first shots rang out before saying he’s “just going to be careful here with some gun shots” and ducking out of frame.
Crowther live-tweeted as people sheltered in place amid after the shots were fired.
“BREAKING: shots appear to have been fired at George Floyd Square. Quiet now. People still sheltering in place,” he tweeted.
Crowther tweeted that between a dozen and two dozen shots were fired. He did not indicate in his tweet thread if anyone had been injured during the shooting. NBC News later reported authorities said at least one person was injured and that Minneapolis Police said the victim was taken to Abbot Northwestern Hospital before being transported to Hennepin County Medical Center for injuries that were not life-threatening.
Minneapolis Police said the suspect was last seen driving away. No other details about the motive or the identity of the suspect or shooting victim were immediately available.
After the shooting ended and people came back out of hiding, Crowther tweeted, “George Floyd Square very quiet again now. But a fellow reporter just had her phone smashed because she took photos of a storefront hit by a bullet.”
Crowther wasn’t the only reporter recording when the shooting began. Another ABC News correspondent was speaking during a live voice-over before it was interrupted.
“Gunshots rang out during a live report from George Floyd Square in Minneapolis on the first anniversary of his murder,” the Washington Examiner tweeted.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020 while in Minneapolis Police custody. Former MPD officer Derek Chauvin was videotaped kneeling on Floyd for around nine minutes before Floyd’s death. Chauvin was one of four police officers criminally charged in connection to Floyd’s death.
The aftermath of Floyd’s death saw months of both peaceful protests and riots across the country and calls for police reforms.
Last month, Chauvin was found guilty by a jury on counts of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, has since filed for a new trial, alleging both prosecutorial misconduct and judicial errors. Ahead of the verdict, Democrat California Rep. Maxine Waters attended a protest event in Minnesota, where she called for people to “get more confrontational” if Derek Chauvin is not found guilty of murder. While Judge Peter Cahill, the judge presiding over the case, said Water’s comments “may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” he did not declare a mistrial.
Nelson’s filing also called for a hearing to vet conduct by members of the jury during the trial and deliberations on the verdict.
