Police in Portland, Oregon, faced riots on Friday night after authorities said groups of protesters smashed windows and robbed shops during protests that began during the day when police shot a man on charges against an armed person.
The vandalism in the center occurred as a result of the man’s death on Friday morning, but was part of the night vigil and demonstrations on behalf of other people murdered by police in various parts of the country. They included 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago and Daunte Wright, a black man fatally shot in a Minneapolis suburb.
Deputy Police Chief Chris Davis told reporters that a white man in his 30s had been shot by police. Officers fired pistols and weapons firing non-lethal projectiles.
The man was pronounced dead on the spot, Lents Park, in a residential area.
Two officers fired non-lethal projectiles and one fired a gun, police said. He or the agent is under administrative suspension and his name will be released later, authorities said.
Davis didn’t know if the man who died had pointed a gun at the officers. A witness told reporters at the scene that the man, who took off his shirt and blocked an intersection, appeared to be having a nervous breakdown, The Oregonian / OregonLive reported.
The police investigation was complicated by a “sizable crowd of quite aggressive people” who gathered in the park two hours after the events.