Shots Fired Near Portland Protest Site

Loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails also found
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 27, 2020 2:39 AM CDT
Updated Jul 27, 2020 6:33 AM CDT
Shots Fired Near Portland Protest Site
Demonstrators walk away from tear gas deployed by federal officers during a Black Lives Matter protest Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Portland, Ore.   (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Police in Portland, Ore., arrested two people after reports that a shot was fired Sunday night near where thousands of people have turned out nightly for protests in the city that has become the epicenter of national unrest over George Floyd’s death, the AP reports. Officers responded to the scene near Lownsdale Square Park about 7:24pm. A person believed to be the gunshot victim arrived later at a hospital via a private vehicle with non-life threatening injuries, authorities said. It wasn't clear if the incident was connected to the demonstrations. Later in the evening, police said a bag containing loaded rifle magazines and Molotov cocktails had been found at the park. Police made multiple announcements telling people not to interfere with the ongoing investigation as protesters were again turning out Sunday night following a weekend of huge protests.

Portland has seen protests nightly for two months since Floyd was killed in Minneapolis in May. President Trump said he sent federal agents to Portland to halt the unrest but state and local officials say they are making the situation worse. Authorities declared a riot early Sunday morning. Meanwhile, in Oakland, Calif., protesters set fire to a courthouse, vandalized a police station, and shot fireworks at officers, authorities said. In Richmond, Va., a dump truck was torched and police ultimately used tear gas to disperse protesters. In Aurora, Colo., a protester was shot and wounded after a car drove into the crowd. All of this came after an armed protester was killed Saturday in Austin, Texas. (More on the weekend of unrest across the nation here.)

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