George Floyd protests: Man drives through crowds and shoots demonstrator in Seattle

Shooting victim who confronted driver says ‘my whole thing was to protect those people’, before being taken to hospital

A man was apprehended in Seattle overnight after he drove through crowds protesting George Floyd’s death, shot one man, and breached police barricades while brandishing a firearm at demonstrators.

Witnesses said the man, who was caught on video during protests in Seattle on Sunday night, was detained when he approached police.

Seattle’s fire department later announced that the 27-year-old shooting victim was in a stable condition at the Harborview Medical Center, after protesters and medics attended to his injuries at the scene on Capitol Hill.

According to The Seattle Times, anti-racism demonstrations on Sunday had been calm before the suspect drove his black Honda Civic down 11th Avenue towards crowds assembled on Pine Street.

One video showed the victim, a demonstrator named Daniel, saying afterwards that he had run over and “punched him [the driver] in the face” as the car slowed down.

“I hear the gunshot go off in my arm,” he told photographer Alex Garland. “My whole thing was to protect those people, my whole thing was to protect those people down there.”

Other videos show Daniel on the ground moments after being shot, having fallen backwards, as crowds dispersed.

The driver, wearing jeans and a black hoodie, then exited the Honda as another demonstrator appeared to blockade him from moving.

Some protesters were seen running as the suspect brandished a weapon and walked through the crowd, towards police.

“Oh god, he’s got a gun,” commented one onlooker who caught the scene on video on Sunday.

Another witness, who described the man’s arrest on Twitter, wrote that the police were “unreal” because Black Lives Matter protesters had seen more brutal treatment than the shooter.

“I just watched the SPD very gently handle an armed white man who shot someone, pushed past me, hopped the barricade, and walked directly into the cops,” said the man on Twitter. “The SPD has gassed protestors over umbrellas. Unreal.”

The police department later added that it had one suspect in custody and had recovered a gun.

“Officers searched, but do not believe there are any additional victims,” added police.