At least six police killings took place in the 24 hours after a verdict was reached in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, AP reports.
Why it matters: As many nationwide breathed a collective sigh of relief after a jury on Tuesday found Chauvin guilty in the murder of George Floyd, some of the six deaths prompted renewed calls for justice and an end to police violence.
The big picture: "The circumstances surrounding each death differ widely. Some happened while officers investigated serious crimes. Police say some of the people were armed with a gun, knife or a metal pole. One man claimed to have a bomb that he threatened to detonate," AP writes.
- "In several cases, little is known about the lives of those killed and what happened in their final moments."
Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl, was killed by officer Nicholas Reardon in Columbus, Ohio, just before the verdict in the Chauvin trial was read.
- Local police released bodycam footage of the incident. Authorities say Reardon fired his weapon to protect a girl that Bryant lunged at with a knife.
- Bryant's death set off demonstrations in Columbus, with protesters questioning why an officer used lethal force against the young girl.
Two men were killed by police in San Antonio, Texas, in separate incidents on Tuesday.
- The first man was killed by a VIA Transit Police officer during an altercation on a bus. According to police, the man had a gun. It's unclear whether the man, who authorities said was in his 20s, fired the weapon, per CBS local affiliate KENS 5.
- The second man was killed when police responded to a call that a man had killed a person working in a shed outside his home. The suspect began shooting at the officers, who returned fire, police said, per AP.
- The names of the two men have not been released.
Phet Gouvonvong, 31, had called 911 in Worcester, Massachusetts, late Tuesday, saying he had a bomb and threatened to set it off, according to AP.
- When police arrived, they found Gouvonvong dressed in body armor with a backpack and what appeared to be a rifle.
- A SWAT team and negotiators attempted to defuse the situation, authorities said, but Gouvonvong was shot when he moved toward police, per AP. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
- “They had no right taking my son’s life,” Gouvonvong's mother, Marie Gonzalez, told the Telegram & Gazette. “They had no right.”
Andrew Brown Jr., a 42-year-old Black man, was killed as sheriff's deputies tried to serve an arrest warrant in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
- Few details of the shooting have been released, though a witness said the deputies shot Brown as he attempted to drive away, per CBS News. Seven deputies have been placed on leave.
- Protesters and lawyers have demanded the bodycam footage from the incident be released.
- "The verdict of Derek Chauvin was certainly a victory in the fight for equal justice, but the killing of Andrew Brown Jr., only a day later, indicates we have so much further to go," Ben Crump, a lawyer for Floyd's family, as well as Brown's family, said Saturday.
A white man in Escondido, California, was killed Wednesday when, according to police, he charged an officer with a metal pole.
- Police were called to the area to respond to reports of a man hitting cars with a metal object. The man's name has not been released, but the San Diego Union-Tribune reported he was homeless and lived with mental illnesses.
- Police said the man was known by law enforcement. They also indicated the department's Psychiatric Emergency Response Team had previously made several attempts to get the man help, per the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Go deeper: Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict in the murder of George Floyd is the rare officer conviction
