US police shoot man dead during traffic stop, protesters gather

WASHINGTON: Police in Minneapolis shot a man dead during a traffic stop on Wednesday, seven months after the killing of George Floyd by an officer in the same US city.

It comes amid an increase in violent crime in the Midwestern city, which was convulsed by protests following Floyd’s death. No details about the shooting victim, or the officers involved, were immediately available.

"Initial witness statements indicate that the subject involved in this felony stop fired first at Minneapolis police officers who then exchanged gunfire with the suspect," Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo said in a press briefing. Body cameras were activated during the incident and the footage would be released on Thursday, Arradondo added.

People gathered at the site outside a gas station in the southern part of the city after the shooting and police urged people to avoid "destructive criminal behaviour". "We want to do everything we can to protect everyone’s First Amendment rights to freely assemble and demonstrate but I say again, we cannot allow for destructive criminal behaviour. Our city has gone through too much," Arradondo said.