Video of Black Teen Shot by Police at Family Dollar Store Sparks Outrage

A Black teenager is now in critical condition after being shot by a police officer in front of a Family Dollar store in Gulfport, Mississippi, on Thursday.

The shooting was reported on Thursday afternoon by the Gulfport Police Department, who wrote on Twitter that detectives were investigating "an officer involved shooting that occurred near Pass Road and 8th Avenue."

A video filmed by a bystander at the scene shows a police line fencing off a vast area of the parking lot in front of the Family Dollar near Pass Road and 8th Avenue, in front of which a small crowd is gathered to look at what's happening outside the store.

"The police just shot a little dude here near Family Dollar," the bystander filming says.

While police sirens continue bleating in the background, the camera zooms in on a young Black man lying face down on the floor in front of the store's entrance, motionless.

"He ran from that car, from there, where they were, he ran this way. He ran and when he put his hands up like that here, that's when he cut him down, bang, bang, bang," the bystander can be heard saying on the recording.

A police officer and two Family Dollar staffers can be seen around the young Black man. One minute into the video, police officers try to disperse the crowd and get them to back off. "Don't want nobody seeing this," says the bystander filming the scene.

Later on, paramedics can be seen transporting the boy away from the scene.

The bystander, whose name on Facebook is Tam Redeemer, posted the video on the platform with the caption: "A killing in Gulfport by the protect and kill this young man obeyed the stop and get your hands up then the policeman cut him down I was 10 yards away."

The video sparked outrage from Facebook users. "I was right there to and that's f***** up what they did," one wrote. "I want answers from Gulfport!!! This is a kid. This is a human life!," another wrote.

The boy was transported to the hospital, where his mother said he's still in critical condition but he's "fighting." Newsweek reached out to the boy's family for comment.

In a statement released on Thursday, Gulfport PD wrote that officers were responding to a call about "a vehicle occupied by multiple subjects brandishing firearms at motorists" in the area of Cowan Road and Magnolia Street when they made contact with the vehicle in the area between Pass Road and 8th Avenue.

Gulfport police said the subjects inside the car then fled the vehicle. "Our officer engaged an armed suspect and shots were fired," the police wrote, without specifying who fired the shots, or how many. Newsweek has contacted the Gulfport PD for comment.

"One suspect was transported to a local area hospital suffering from a single gunshot wound. Another suspect was apprehended after a short foot pursuit. All suspects are now in custody and several firearms were recovered," the statement concludes.

During a later press conference, Gulfport Police Chief Adam Cooper said that the suspect who had been shot was armed, and that four others were arrested. Cooper didn't release the name or age of the suspect shot, but said he was at Memorial Hospital in Gulfport.

The incident is currently being investigated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of Biloxi Police Department Crime Scene Unit. The Gulfport PD officer who shot the boy has been placed on non-enforcement duties.