A Tacoma, Washington police officer allegedly drove his car into a crowd on Saturday night and sent at least one person to the hospital, authorities said. The incident was captured in a video that was widely shared on social media.
Protesters then gathered at the intersection where it happened, reports KIRO-TV, a subsidiary of CBS Seattle.
“I was shocked, I was shaken, I was confused, I was scared. This officer killed this group of people and then fled the scene,” a woman at the scene told KIRO-TV. “I want justice for the people who have just been injured.”
According to police, officers responded to street coaches around 6:20 p.m. There were about 100 people at the scene when they arrived there. Officers were clearing the intersection of people, and a police vehicle was allegedly surrounded by the crowd.
“People hit the body of the police vehicle and its windows when the officer was stopped in the street,” Tacoma police said. “The officer, for fear of his safety, tried to back up, but could not succeed due to the crowd.”
In a video posted on Twitter, a person under an SUV showed off police as he drove away. Other videos posted on Twitter showed a car making donuts before police arrived. After the authorities arrived, it appeared that a police vehicle was driving into the crowd and overturning several people before driving away.
At least one person was transported to a nearby hospital. The person’s condition is unknown.
“People messed with the cops, yelled at the cops, yelled at the cops, and then the car drove backwards and drove full crowd in,” Cory Le, who filmed one of the videos, told Reuters.
Police in Tacoma have handed over the investigation to the Pierce County Force Investigation Team, according to KIRO-TV.
Interim police chief Mike Ake said in a statement that he was “concerned that our department is experiencing another use of deadly violence.”