A Juneteenth parade was marred by a deadly police-involved shooting in Michigan on Saturday. A 19-year-old woman was reportedly shot and killed during a shootout with a police officer in Flint.
A Flint Police Department officer was working a traffic point during the Juneteenth Champions Parade in Michigan and got into a confrontation with the driver of a silver car around 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Witnesses sitting in a nearby vehicle who captured video of the unsettling situation appear to say that the driver fired the first shots.
The officer draws his gun and instructs the driver to put their hands up. NBC News noted that the officer screams, “Let me see your hands! Hands up!”
Suddenly, multiple gunshots are fired.
After the shots were fired, the vehicle slowly rolls down the street.
Video shows the police officer that fired the shots immediately falls to his knees. He appears to be overwrought with grief as he holds his face in his hands. Another officer attempts to console him, but he is so emotional that he slumps to the pavement. At one point, he is face-down on the wet road.
(Content Warning: Graphic video, strong language):
The Detroit News shared an alleged video from the shooting that was taken from a cellphone screen and posted on Facebook. The person who uploaded the footage claimed the driver of the car shot first.
“This car pulled up shooting first !! From inside the car with the windows still up! Which is what caused the police to shoot her,” the person on Facebook alleged. “He didn’t shoot her for no reason he had his life and the parade to protect. Why shots was coming from inside the car is what I don’t know.”
The Flint Police Department requested that the Michigan State Police investigate the officer-involved shooting.
Michigan State Police issued a statement on the shooting: “Preliminary investigation indicates the officer, who was working a traffic point for the Juneteenth Celebration Parade, was fired upon by the lone occupant of a vehicle who drove up to him at the traffic point. Upon taking fire, the officer returned fire, striking the suspect.”
The woman, who was not identified by police, allegedly was taken to a local hospital where she died.
The officer involved in the shooting was uninjured, and no bystanders were hurt, according to authorities.
