MILWAUKEE -- The black man whose killing by Milwaukee police spurred riots was shot by a black officer after he turned toward the officer with a gun in his hand, the police chief said Sunday, as Wisconsin's governor put the National Guard on standby to prevent any further violence on the city's mostly black north side.
After watching the officer's body-camera footage, Police Chief Edward Flynn said at a Sunday afternoon news conference that the Saturday encounter took about 25 seconds, from the moment Sylville K. Smith, the slain man, was the subject of a traffic stop until shots were fired.
Smith, 23, ran "a few dozen feet" after being stopped, then turned toward the officer while holding the gun, the police chief said. He added it was unclear how many rounds the officer fired in response but that Smith was wounded in the chest and arm.
Flynn said he didn't know what prompted the traffic stop, but described Smith's car as "behaving suspiciously" and suggested it was a rental car that may have been stolen.
Nonetheless, Flynn said the department is "concerned for [the officer's] safety" and that the officer was staying with relatives out of town.
Flynn said he didn't know how soon the body-camera video would be released but that he and Mayor Tom Barrett hoped it would be soon, though the decision would be up to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
"It's a delicate balance between what the community needs to know ... and the criminal justice process," Flynn said.
Flynn said Smith had a "lengthy arrest record."
Smith was accused in a shooting last year and charged with recklessly endangering safety, a felony. He was subsequently accused of pressuring the victim to recant statements that identified him as the gunman and was charged with trying to intimidate a witness, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The charges were dropped because the victim recanted the identification and failed to appear in court, Chief Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern told the newspaper.
Smith also pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon in 2014. Smith was cited for driving without a license or insurance, speeding and driving with open intoxicants earlier this year. Court records identify Smith as black.
A distraught Mildred Haynes earlier told the newspaper that Smith, her son, was the man killed and said police had told her little about his death.
"My son is gone due to the police killing my son," she said Sunday. "I am lost."
She said Smith had a 2-year-old son.
Protest turns violent
Meanwhile, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker activated the National Guard to help the Milwaukee Police Department control further protests of the shooting.
Protesters turned violent and fired gunshots in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood late Saturday. Fires were started at several businesses -- including a gas station, bank, beauty supply company and an O'Reilly Auto Parts store -- in the protests that stretched into early Sunday, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Seventeen people were arrested, Flynn said, and four officers were hurt, none seriously.
The Journal Sentinel reported that tensions amplified when the crowd confronted officers who had arrived near the scene of the shooting in riot gear. When officers began to leave the scene, some members of the crowd "started smashing the windows and side of a squad car" and "another vehicle was set on fire," the paper reported.
When police returned with more riot gear, someone in the crowd fired shots into the air, the newspaper reported.
A reporter and a photographer from the paper were then chased from the scene and assaulted by someone in the crowd, the newspaper reported.
During a midnight news conference, Barrett stood beside city leaders to plead for an end to the chaos that had been unfolding for hours.
"We have to have calm," Barrett said. "There are a lot of really good people who live in this neighborhood."
Sunday morning, a sense of calm and order had returned to the neighborhood.
Just after 7 a.m., people arrived at the scene to help clean up after the protests. Some people crossed police tape and entered the gas station, which was not being guarded by police, and started picking up trash. Officers ushered them out, and the cleanup continued near the gas station and in the surrounding blocks.
"This may look like a graveyard, but dozens of faith & community leaders are out cleaning up. This is our Milwaukee!" Pastor Alexis Twito tweeted Sunday. Twito is the lead coordinator for the Salvation Army's chaplaincy program that responds to traumatic events across the city.
Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton said organizations that work in the Sherman Park neighborhood have begun outreach in the community.
"What we want is to make sure now that this does not spread to other parts of the city," Hamilton said Sunday morning. "And we'll be sharing information with the community so they are aware of what's going on and understand that things will be moving forward."
But Milwaukee Alderman Khalif Rainey, who represents the neighborhood in which the shooting occurred, aired a more grave outlook, arguing the city's black residents are "tired of living under this oppression."
"Now this is a warning cry. Where do we go from here? Where do we go as a community from here?" he asked.
Late Sunday, Milwaukee police said they used an armored vehicle to go to the aid of an injured shooting victim at a protest and took the person to a hospital.
Police announced the action on Twitter but gave no other details.
Protesters were throwing objects, and police in riot gear moved in to disperse the crowd. About 150 people had marched through the neighborhood and circled back to a park to block an intersection, police said.
Information for this article was contributed by John Diedrich, Ashley Luthern, Raquel Rutledge, Maggie Angst, Annysa Johnson and Tom Kertscher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; by Gretchen Ehlke, Todd Richmond and staff members of The Associated Press; and by Peter Holley of The Washington Post.
A Section on 08/15/2016