[Warning: Video is disturbing.]
A disturbing event from Saturday led to at least one person in the hospital. Footage out of Tacoma, Washington shows a police SUV plowing through a group of people on the street, and running over an individual. Police said the officer in question had been in fear of his safety.
According to the official account, 911 received numerous reports at about 6:19 p.m. PST of an incident at the intersection of South 9th and Pacific Avenue.
A witness account and videos from before this shows that drivers had been doing burnouts on the street.
[Warning: Video is disturbing.]
Police said that multiple vehicles and about 100 people were blocking the intersection when cops arrived. Officers began attempting to clear the intersection of people and vehicles, but as seen on video, a crowd began to surround a responding police SUV. People struck the vehicle and its windows, the department said.
“The officer, fearing for his safety, tried to back up, but was unable to do so because of the crowd,” police said. “The officer had his lights and sirens activated. While trying to extricate himself from an unsafe position, the officer drove forward striking one individual and may have impacted others.”
Footage shows the SUV plowing through the group, and running over at least one person, who was flat on the ground.
Police say the officer involved stopped when it was safe, and called for medical help. Officers said that one person was taken to a hospital but that individual’s condition was unknown.
Now the department is giving the investigation to the Pierce County Force Investigation Team.
“I am concerned that our department is experiencing another use of deadly force incident,” Interim Police Chief Mike Ake said in a statement on the incident. “I send my thoughts to anyone who was injured in tonight’s event, and am committed to our Department’s full cooperation in the independent investigation and to assess the actions of the department’s response during the incident.”
[Screengrab via Jason Gauthier / @jasonjgauthier on Twitter]