Officers responded around 2:30 a.m. to shots fired in Cal Anderson Park, which lies inside an area of several blocks that demonstrators in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood cordoned off and dubbed the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
SEATTLE POLICE UNION CHIEF CALLS FOR 'LEADERSHIP' AFTER FATAL SHOOTING IN CHOP ZONE
The shooting inside the protest zone killed a 19-year-old man and left another male with life-threatening injuries, police said in a post on its blotter Saturday.
Police bodycam footage shows officers arriving and marching through the zone with guns drawn as a group of angry protesters yell profanities and approach the officers.
“This is inside the area referred to as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP),” the department said. “Officers attempted to locate a shooting victim but were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers' safe access to the victims.”
An officer in the video can be heard saying through a bullhorn: “Please move out of the way so we can get to the victim! All we want to do is get to the victim and provide them aid!”
Several protesters can be heard yelling at the officers to “put your guns down!” They can also be heard telling officers the victims had already been taken to the hospital.
As police were retreating from the zone, the video shows a group of protesters forming a chain around a police vehicle to stop other protesters from following the officers.