Armed driver barrels toward Seattle protesters, shooting one before surrendering to police

A chaotic scene unfolded Sunday night in Seattle when an armed driver barreled toward a crowd of protesters, shooting one person who apparently tried to stop him, before ultimately surrendering to police, according to authorities and video footage of the incident.

The violence interrupted a peaceful protest in the name of George Floyd near the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct just before 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Videos showed protesters appearing to chase after a black Honda Civic as it sped down the street toward a larger crowd, slowing just as it crashed into a metal barrier near an intersection. One protester caught up to the vehicle, video by the Seattle Times shows. The man appeared to try to reach inside the driver's side window, when a shot rang out.

The protester jolted backward, falling onto the pavement. Bystanders and medics rushed to his aid. The suspect, who has not been identified by police, then exited the vehicle, as the people who had just surrounded his car fled in all directions.

"He's got a gun!" people screamed in video taken by a Seattle Times reporter.

The suspect then headed toward the heart of the protest where hundreds were gathered in the street. With nowhere to go, some raised their hands in the air. Some lay on the ground.

The man ran through the crowd toward the police line on the other side of the protesters.

Once he emerged from the crowd, he walked toward police with his hands in the air. He walked nearly all the way up to the police line before officers took him away, video of the arrest shows.

Seattle police said the unidentified suspect is in custody and that a gun was recovered from the scene.

The Seattle Fire Department said the 27-year-old victim was transported to the hospital and is in stable condition.

Video footage showed the victim walking down the street with medics while raising his fist in the air. In one video by photojournalist Alex Garland, the victim, identified only as Daniel, explained what happened while a medic applied pressure to his bleeding arm.

"I see a car run down [the street] . . . I catch him. I punch him in the face. I hear the gunshot go off in my arm - and I move right in time," he said. "My whole thing was to protect those people."

Protesters cheered for the man as he passed them in the street on his way to meet paramedics.

Sunday marked the 10th consecutive day of protests in Seattle over police brutality, sparked by Floyd's death after a Minneapolis police officer dug his knee into his neck. Seattle police have come under fire for their tactics at the protests, leading Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best to acknowledge Sunday night that police have been too quick to use nonlethal force rather than de-escalate conflicts. They ordered police to turn on body cameras during protests, which they will start doing Monday.

City leaders on Friday had banned the use of tear gas for 30 days except in life-threatening situations.

That ban didn't last.

Early Monday morning, police again deployed a combination of tear gas, flash-bang grenades and pepper spray, which they claim was in response to people throwing projectiles. Police also said they saw someone with a gun, in a tweet justifying the use of tear gas. The department did not respond to a request for more details.

Plumes of smoke sent dozens of people running and screaming, rubbing their eyes, live-streamed video footage by activist Joey Wieser showed. Many remained despite dispersal orders from police, standing their ground from a distance as police fired tear gas and flash bangs at them. A band even played in the street, creating a jovial, discordant soundtrack contrasting with the scene.

Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, who was on the front lines on Monday morning, said police fired tear gas without provocation.

"Just got maced and gassed with hundreds others by Seattle police on 11th & Pine. With no provocation," Sawant, who has called for Durkan's resignation, wrote on Twitter. "All the movement was demanding was: Let us march! Shameful violence under Mayor Durkan. And the 30-day tear gas pause is totally meaningless."

Before the police's attempts to clear the protests after midnight, some critics juxtaposed the aggressive police response to protesters with the officers' seemingly calm reaction toward the suspect in the shooting who walked straight toward them.

“The person trying to commit vehicular homicide and who just moments earlier shot the man who stopped him is able to walk causally to the police line with a gun and gets politely escorted away,” Washington Democratic state Sen. Joe Nguyen wrote on Twitter. “Yesterday people were flash bomber and pepper sprayed for touching the fence!”