A protest broke out in Raleigh, North Carolina, after an armed man was wounded in a police-involved shooting on Tuesday evening.
According to CBS 17, the protesters gathered in downtown Raleigh, marching and chanting until Wednesday morning to demand answers from authorities. The crowd didn't get details about the shooting of Javier Torres until four hours after the shooting, CBS 17 reported.
“We need immediate and swift transparency regarding this incident because the community has a right to know and needs to know what’s going on,” Kerwin Pittman, one of the protesters, told the news station.
Raleigh police said the shooting incident was first reported as a man with a gun around 6:40 p.m.
“When officers arrived at the scene, they observed an individual who matched the description given by the 911 caller,” police said in a statement.
"Torres ignored the commands and proceed to flee," Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said in a press conference. "A foot chase ensued, during which the officer repeatedly ordered Mr. Torres to stop and drop the gun."
"Another officer, who was responding from Duckling Way, encountered Mr. Torres, who was running directly at him with the gun in his right hand," Deck-Brown said. "The officer fired one shot, which struck Mr. Torres in the abdomen."
The 26-year-old was taken to the hospital after being shot, and a gun was found nearby, according to police.
The group chanted “Whose streets? Our streets!” as they marched to the state capitol. Protesters burned the U.S. flag and held a photo of Akiel Denkins, who was shot and killed by a Raleigh police officer in 2016.
Police said the officer who fired a weapon, as well as other officers, had their body-worn cameras turned on during the incident.
"The Raleigh Police Department will seek a petition to authorize release of the video of this incident," the press release stated. "As is standard protocol, the NC State Bureau of Investigation will conduct an investigation of the officer-involved shooting."
Raleigh Police Department public information officer Donna-maria Harris said the department is "trying to give out accurate information" and is protecting "everybody's right to protest peacefully."
"We want to ensure the protesters can have their say and protest peacefully and that there is no damage done to property or to person," Harris told Blavity on Wednesday.
Audio of the 911 call, which was sent to Blavity, reveals the caller asking for police to come to Sopranos Grill because there's a person among a group of men who has "a gun strapped on him" in front of the restaurant.
"I wanna say four of them are Black, three of them are Hispanic," the caller said, describing the group.
The caller said one the "Hispanic" men, who has tattoos on both arms, was "flashing the gun."
About 10 minutes later, the caller contacted dispatchers again to say the suspect is walking back and forth in the area of the restaurant and he still has the gun strapped on him.
When he called a third time, the man said "I just had a Black man come in here and threaten him, saying that 'he got me. He knows my family. He knows me.'"
"He said 'you just got my brother locked up and my fam killed. I know your family. It's done. It's a wrap,'" the caller said.
Harris added that investigators are hoping to release bodycam footage within the next 24 hours.
Deck-Brown said police are asking "the public not to rush to judgment in this incident and that you allow the investigation to be completed in a thorough and transparent manner."
"While I cannot give details about the investigation, I do want to address some misinformation that is circulating on social media; the body-worn camera video will show those statements to be inaccurate," the police chief said.
According to CBS 17, the shooting happened near the same shopping center where Soheil Mojarrad was fatally shot by police last year.