A Black teenage girl has reportedly been shot and killed by police in Columbus, Ohio.
The teenager was shot shortly before former police officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted on Tuesday (local time) of murdering Black man George Floyd.
The victim has been widely identified as 15-year-old Makiyah Bryant.
On Tuesday afternoon (local time), police responded to a report of an attempted stabbing, according to local newspaper The Columbus Dispatch. An officer-involved shooting was reported shortly after.
The female victim was taken to the hospital in a critical condition but was pronounced dead shortly before 5:30pm (9:30am NZ time), the paper reports.
Family members told reporters at the scene that 15-year-old Bryant was the victim of the shooting, however this information is yet to be confirmed by authorities.
Hazel Bryant told The Dispatch she is the aunt of the alleged victim. She said the girl lived in a nearby foster home and got into an altercation with another resident.
Bryant told The Dispatch her niece had a knife, but maintained the girl had dropped the weapon before she was shot "multiple times" by a police officer.
Protesters have gathered at the scene of the shooting, many expressing outrage the incident had taken away from the conviction of Chauvin in Minneapolis.
"We don't get to celebrate nothing," one reportedly declared through a megaphone. "You know what, you can't be Black."
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said footage captured by the officers' body cameras will be reviewed as soon as possible.
He has asked residents to remain calm and to allow the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to investigate the incident.
The shooting unfolded shortly before the guilty verdict was delivered in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer now convicted of murdering 46-year-old Black man George Floyd outside a grocery store on May 25, 2020. While restraining Floyd, Chauvin pressed his knee on the back of the handcuffed man's neck for more than nine minutes, robbing him of oxygen. Despite repeatedly gasping "I can't breathe", Chauvin continued to hold the position, resulting in Floyd's death.
This is a developing story - more to com
