MINNEAPOLIS -- Five people were shot and injured late Monday near the Minneapolis police 4th Precinct, where protesters of a young black man's shooting have camped out for more than a week.
Protesters at the encampment called the shooters white supremacists. Police said the injuries did not appear life threatening.
Some protesters said they saw three or four men who they called white supremacists Monday night and asked them to leave. They later came back and fired into the crowd six times, witnesses said.
"Dozens of officers responded almost immediately, attending to victims and secured the scene," Minneapolis police reported. "Additional resources were called in and are actively investigating the shootings, interviewing a multitude of witnesses."
Three of the victims went to North Memorial Medical Center by private vehicle, two were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance.
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The incident occurred at 10:45 p.m.
Twin Cities media reported that Black Lives Matter Minneapolis spokeswoman Niski Noor said the group of white supremacists were at the protest, like they have other nights since the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark early on Nov. 15.
A witness said one man wore a mask.
The attackers fled the scene and at last report police had not caught them.
On its Facebook page, Black Lives Matter Minneapolis called the shootings an act of "domestic terrorism."
"We will not be intimidated," the page read. "Stand with us tomorrow."
The organization plans a march at 2 p.m. today beginning at the 4th Precinct.
Clark's family, meanwhile, asked protesters to end their occupation of the precinct station for safety reasons.
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Protest organizers discussed Sunday how long they would remain at the precinct, but did not announce if they were ending those efforts.
On Monday, Gov. Mark Dayton said he had watched one of the videos shot at the scene of Clark's shooting. He said the video, taken from an ambulance camera, was inconclusive and would not prove whether Clark was handcuffed.
Some witnesses of the incident said Clark was cuffed, but police have said he was not. Police say Clark was in the process of getting control of one of an officer's gun when he was shot once in the head. He died the next day.
