George Floyd Las Vegas Protests: 1 Police Officer Wounded, 1 Armed Man Killed In Two Shootings

A Las Vegas police officer is on life support Tuesday after being shot amid violent protests Monday night over the death of George Floyd. Police arrested the unidentified gunman and have not released the name of the wounded officer.

“This is a sad night for our LVMPD family and a tragic night for our community,” Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said at a press conference.

The shooting took place outside the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino where police attempted to break up a protest. The situation escalated as protesters began throwing bottles and rocks while police took several protesters into custody. During this chaos, the aforementioned officer was struggling to secure a protester when the alleged gunman shot the officer in the back of the head.

The officer was rushed to nearby University Medical Center and placed on life support. Sheriff Lombardo said the alleged shooter was arrested around 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

Videos and images of the scene outside Circus Circus made their way onto social media.

It was the second shooting to take place Monday amid the protests in Las Vegas. Officers shot and killed an armed man in front of a federal building in downtown.

“At approximately 11:22 p.m., officers encountered a subject who was armed with multiple firearms and appeared to be wearing body armor,” Lombardo said at the press conference. “During the interaction, the subject reached for a firearm and the officers engaged him. The suspect was struck by gunfire and transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.”

No officers were said to have been harmed during the second altercation. Investigations are ongoing for both shootings.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak voiced his condolences and said on Twitter that his office was working with local law enforcement on the two shootings.

Las Vegas is just one of the roughly 40 U.S. cities that has seen mass demonstrations over the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man who died in Minneapolis after a police officer kept his knee on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes.