A Tacoma, Washington, police officer was seen driving through a downtown crowd on Saturday night, running over at least one person and sending them to the hospital, NBC News reported.
The officer responded to multiple calls that a group of people were blocking a downtown intersection when the crowd began descending on the police car, the Tacoma Police Department said.
Interim Tacoma Police Chief Mike Ake said he is “committed” to the department’s full cooperation into an investigation into the incident.
Multiple bystander videos were posted online of the incident, where the police car can be seen rolling over a person and continuing to move forward, according to NBC News. Authorities from Pierce County are taking over the probe into the incident as an independent investigation team.
A crowd of about 100 people and several cars were blocking an intersection when the department arrived downtown, according to a police statement. One Tacoma police car was then surrounded by the crowd and the officer inside struggled to remove himself.
“People hit the body of the police vehicle and its windows as the officer was stopped in the street,” Tacoma police said. “The officer, fearing for his safety, tried to back up, but was unable to do so because of the crowd.”
Police said the officer stopped after moving some distance away and called for medical aid. The officer was not identified by police.