During the Juneteenth weekend, tragedy struck when a teen parade attendee was shot and killed by a police officer in Flint, Michigan, ABC 12 reported. Briana Sykes died at an area hospital around 2:15 p.m.
Investigators claim the 19-year-old, who went unidentified at the time of the shooting, fired at a Flint police officer working the Juneteenth parade. She allegedly approached the officer in her car and opened fire.
According to the Michigan State Police, the officer returned fire at the teen and ended up mortally wounding her.
Preliminary investigation indicates the officer, who was working a traffic point for the Juneteenth Celebration Parade, was fired upon by the lone occupant of a vehicle who drove up to him at the traffic point. Upon taking fire, the officer returned fire, striking the suspect.
— MSP Bay Region (@mspbayregion) June 19, 2021
A witness who did not wish to be identified said that he was only a few feet away from the incident.
“I saw an officer maybe ten feet to the left of me in front of a car with his gun out. I didn’t see if anybody shot out of the car, but I did see the officer shoot into the car…He instantly fell to the ground crying because I felt like he didn’t want to do whatever he had to do.”
A video provided by Click On Detroit shows an officer circling a parked silver vehicle with his gun drawn near the parking lot of a gas station. Briana Sykes was the driver of the vehicle.
The video then skipped to the officer on the ground, and he appeared to be consoled by another officer after having shot the teen.
After the teen was shot, the Juneteenth celebration was promptly shut down due to the parade route being the scene of the shooting.
No video has been released of Briana Sykes shooting at the officer. Additionally, the officer, who was not wounded, has not been identified.
