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An SUV created a domino effect when it struck a parked car which was tossed into a crowd of Minneapolis demonstrators, a woman was killed, 3 injured, then protesters pulled the driver from the vehicle and beat him.
Police say that a woman was killed and three other people injured after an SUV struck a parked car, which was tossed into a crowd of demonstrators. The protesters then pulled the driver from the vehicle and began striking him, ABC reported.
The incident occurred on Sunday around 11:39 PM at the intersection of West Lake Street in Gerard Avenue South, according to the Minneapolis Police Department, CBS reported.
Demonstrators staged a protest in an uptown Minneapolis neighborhood Sunday night. The crowd had gathered to protest in an area where a black man was fatally shot this month during his attempted arrest by members of a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, Twin Cities reported. The shooting occurred on June 3.
The man was identified as Winston Boogie Smith Jr., a 32-year-old father of three. He was wanted by authorities on a weapons violation and had fired a gun before deputies fatally shot him.
Police did not initially release the names of the victims or the suspect. However, on Tuesday, a report by CBS said relatives of the woman that was killed identified her as 31-year-old Deona Knajdek. Witnesses say Knajdek had placed her car in the intersection to protect the protesters as they demonstrated.
Protester Ty Henderson witnessed the crash. The only reason I saw it was because I heard the tires screech and the engine rev up,” Henderson said. “Like, I heard it and I’m like, ‘What is that?’ And I look up and all I see is headlights, and all I could think is, like, it’s going faster.”
“We had to like dive out the way, and I like, like, looked back and I saw it all,” Henderson added.
Another witness, Donald Hooker, was standing next to Henderson.
“The guy got out the car and he started running, and he was apprehended, and we kept him there until the police arrived a minute later,” Hooker said. He said when they tried to give the driver over to the officers, they were met with aggression by the police. He shot video of the interaction.
Why did you come in guns blazing?” Hooker asked police. “Why did you come here and say you were going to Mace us? Why did you come in here and do all this extra stuff like we weren’t already traumatized enough, like we didn’t lose a member of our community?”
A video posted on Instagram showed protesters pulling the man from his SUV and holding him until officers arrived to take him into custody. Police transported the driver to a local hospital for treatment.
The man’s motive was not immediately known. According to investigators, their preliminary investigation suggests that alcohol and drugs could have played a role.
The name of the driver was not released by Minneapolis police, citing investigative purposes. But reports identified him as a 35-year-old St. Paul resident who was arrested on suspicion of criminal vehicular homicide. He was also driving on a suspended license and charged with giving false information to police. Records show map the man lost his license as the result of multiple DUI offenses.
