Protestor shot dead after driver speeds through Black Lives Matter rally in Texas

A protestor who was apparently armed with a rifle at a demonstration against police violence in the Texas capital was shot and killed after a witness says he approached a vehicle that had driven through the crowd and the driver opened fire.

The shooting happened just before yesterday as demonstrators were marching through downtown Austin, police spokeswoman Katrina Ratliff told reporters. The man who was shot was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The vehicle honked, turned onto a street and sped through the protestors before it apparently hit an orange barrier and stopped, witness Michael Capochiano, who took part in the demonstration, told the  Austin American-Statesman . A protestor with a rifle approached the vehicle and was shot by the driver, who then drove off, he said.

Ratliff confirmed that initial reports indicated “the victim may have been carrying a rifle". She said the driver was detained and was cooperating with police. She didn't release the names of the driver or the man who was killed. There was no answer at a number for an Austin police spokesperson late Sunday morning (early this morning NZT).

In video that was streamed live on Facebook, a car can be heard honking before several shots ring out and protestors start screaming and scattering. Police can then be seen tending to someone lying in the street.

In an  interview  with ABC's Good Morning America, Sheila Foster identified the man who was shot as her son, Garrett Foster. She said he had been a regular at the protests with his fiancée.

“They've been participating in these protests almost every day for the past 50 days," she said.

Sheila Foster said she was told her son was pushing his fiancée, who uses a wheelchair, through an intersection when the suspect was driving “erratically" through the crowd. She said she was told the driver shot her son three times.

The shooting happened during a night of protests and unrest in several US cities.