KEY POINTS

  • Multiple persons suffered injuries after a driver rammed a Jeep to a crowd in Colorado
  • Police said a protester fired a weapon but hit a fellow protester instead
  • Witnesses say the person who fired the weapon may have been aiming for the driver
  • Police reported a second person was shot and a third was injured after she "jumped or fell" amid the chaos

Multiple protesters were reportedly injured after a car plowed through a crowd while hosting a Black Lives Matter rally in Aurora, Colorado over the weekend.

The Aurora Police Department posted on Twitter Saturday that demonstrators were walking on Interstate 55 when an unidentified driver rammed a blue Jeep into the crowd. A protester then decided to fire a weapon, but it hit a fellow protester in the process.

Eyewitnesses told the Denver Post that the one who fired the weapon may have been aiming at the driver. The protester who was hit on the other hand was brought to a hospital in stable condition.

Juneteenth, the annual US commemoration of the end of slavery, comes as Americans continue Black Lives Matter demonstrations and protests against police brutality following two high-profile killings of blacks by police in May and June, 2020
Juneteenth, the annual US commemoration of the end of slavery, comes as Americans continue Black Lives Matter demonstrations and protests against police brutality following two high-profile killings of blacks by police in May and June, 2020 AFP / CHANDAN KHANNA

Police also pointed out that a second protester was also shot and a third person was injured after she “jumped or fell” off a wall of the interstate amid the chaos.

“Someone else showed up to the hospital with a graze wound. The vehicle was towed and we are investigating that incident,” authorities said in a post, while urging witnesses to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers for any information that will lead to the arrest of the driver.

Metro Denver Crime Stoppers is a non-profit organization that helps law enforcement in catching criminals by offering a reward for anonymous tips.

Another witness told the Aurora Sentinel that a “hero” driver prevented what could have been a deadly incident by moving his truck in front of the incoming Jeep, the New York Daily News reported.

Sebastian Sassi said it was a “snap decision” to move his truck, adding that if he didn't slow down the Jeep, the driver is “going to kill people.”

“The guy was clearly trying to kill people and f—k that,” he said.

The protest came amid the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain, an African-American who died in while being arrested by police in August of last year. NBC News reported that officers restrained McClain using a carotid control hold, a type of chokehold that restricts blood flow to the brain.

After McClain “briefly went unconscious,” an Aurora Fire Rescue medic injected him with 500 milligrams of Ketamine. About seven minutes later, McClain, who was in an ambulance, had no pulse and went into cardiac arrest. EMS was able to revive McClain, but was later declared brain dead. He was taken off life support less than a week later, said NBC News.

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