Man fleeing: police in the US state of Louisiana shoot black people

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Police car in the USA (symbolic image)

Police in the southern US state of Louisiana shot dead an escaping black suspect who was armed with a knife, according to police. The officials in the city of Lafayette initially unsuccessfully used tasers to stop Treyford P., the state police said in a statement. Officials then opened fire when the 31-year-old wanted to flee to a small supermarket, it said.

The police were called to the scene on Friday evening because there was a "disturbance" there by a man who was armed with a knife, the police said. This was at the time in the parking lot of a supermarket. The officers tried to arrest the 31-year-old. The man fled on foot, as it was said.

The police did not provide any information about the number of shots fired. The suspect was pronounced dead after the incident in a hospital, the statement said. Officials were not injured. Local media reported about a dozen shots.

Lawyer demands transparent clarification

The victim's family lawyer, Ben Crump, issued a statement calling for a transparent explanation of the "careless shooting and tragic killing of this man". The responsible police officers should be released immediately, he said. "Treyford was surrounded by officers and shot more than ten times," said Crump.

The lawyer also shared a video of witnesses on Twitter allegedly showing the incident. The video shows a man avoiding the police chase at walking pace. As he approaches a front door, the police shoot him several times from a very short distance.

According to Crump, the dead name was Treyford P., the police gave his first name with the spelling Trayford.

In the USA there have been mass protests against racism and police violence in many places since the end of May. The trigger was the killing of the unarmed African American George Floyd during a brutal police operation in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The four police officers involved were charged, among other things, with murder or accessory to murder. Floyd's family had also been represented by Crump.

irb / dpa