Crowds of protesters gathered Sunday in a Minnesota city where the family of a 20-year-old man says he was shot by police before getting back into his car and driving off, then crashing several blocks away. The family of Daunte Wright said he was later pronounced dead.

The death sparked protests in Brooklyn Center late into Sunday night as Minneapolis was already on edge midway through the trial of the first of four police officers in George Floyd’s death. Brooklyn Center, a city with a population of about 30,000, is located on the northwest border of Minneapolis.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tweeted that he was praying for Wright’s family “as our state mourns another life of a Black man taken by law enforcement.”

Police didn’t immediately identify Wright or disclose his race, but some protesters who gathered near the scene waved flags and signs reading “Black Lives Matter.” Others walked peacefully with their hands held up. On one street, written in multi-colored chalk, was the phrase “Justice for Daunte Wright.”

Brooklyn Center police said in a statement that officers stopped an individual shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday. After determining the driver had an outstanding warrant, police tried to arrest the driver. The driver reentered the vehicle and drove away. An officer fired at the vehicle, striking the driver. Police said the vehicle traveled several blocks before striking another vehicle.

Police said the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office would release the person’s name following a preliminary autopsy and family notification. A female passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the crash.

Demonstrators gathered shortly after the shooting and crash, with some jumping on top of police cars and confronting officers. Marchers also descended upon the Brooklyn Center police department building, where rocks and other objects were thrown at officers, Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said at a late-night news conference.

A second group of protesters went to a nearby mall where 20 businesses were broken into, Harrington said.

(AP)