One dead, another injured in shooting in Louisville

One person died and another was injured after a shooting late on Saturday (June 27) at the Jefferson Square Park in Louisville, Kentucky, where protesters have camped out to demonstrate against the police killing of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, in her home in March.

Video obtained by Reuters showed a gunman opening fire on people in the park. Several shots were heard as people took cover within the park, with protesters - and later, the police - arriving to help a man who had been shot. Further video showed the park being cordoned off with officers and investigators arriving at the crime scene.

The Louisville Metro Police Department said in a statement that they received reports of the shooting at around 9 p.m. local time (0100 GMT on Sunday, June 28). "Calls then came in that Sheriff's department personnel were in the park performing life-saving measures on a male who eventually died at the scene," the police added.

The statement said the police had cleared the park and homicide detectives were conducting an investigation. No further details were provided.

Jefferson Square Park in Louisville, Kentucky, has been a center for protests against the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman was killed in a hail of gunfire when drug investigators burst into her home in Louisville about three months ago.

Taylor's slaying returned to prominence following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man killed after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes while detaining him in Minneapolis.

The two incidents and others have become a rallying cry in nationwide protests against police brutality and racial bias in the U.S. criminal justice system.