A man protesting the death of George Floyd was fatally shot outside a bar in Nebraska, police said.
James Scurlock, 22, died at a hospital after he was shot in Omaha late Saturday in the city’s Old Market section, where protesters gathered during a second straight night in response to Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
The alleged shooter — identified by police sources to local outlets as a nearby bar owner — is in custody and being questioned, the newspaper reported.
“Last night, I lost a son,” Scurlock’s father, also named James, said Sunday. “My kids lost a brother. His daughter lost a father … We want them to go to court.”
Police said in a tweet early Sunday that a suspect had been taken into custody, but the alleged shooter was not identified. Multiple news outlets, however, identified the suspect as Jake Gardner, who reportedly owns two bars near where Scurlock was shot.
Just hours before the deadly confrontation, Gardner wrote on Facebook about protecting his business amid the ongoing downtown demonstrations, the Omaha World-Record reported.
“Just when you think, ‘what else could 2020 throw at me?’ Then you have to pull 48 hours of military style firewatch,” Gardner wrote.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine told the newspaper he would determine whether to file charges in the shooting.
Scurlock’s father, meanwhile, said he believes charges are warranted in the fatal incident while calling on protesters not to loot or be violent in his son’s memory.
Investigators are reviewing all evidence collected from the scene, including video footage and witness interviews, KMTV reported.
Gardner is the suspect in the shooting, a police source confirmed to the station.
Purported footage of the shooting shows a man who appears to be Gardner standing outside as a witness screams that he has a gun, the World-Herald reported.
Two shots ring out as the man is approached by several people, including one who appears to be Scurlock, the report said.
Messages seeking additional comment from Omaha police were not immediately returned early Monday.
One of Gardner’s bars, The Hive, is decked out with memorabilia from rock band 311, a group from Omaha that once performed there, the World-Herald reported.
The band has since condemned Scurlock’s killing by one of its “longtime” fans in a statement released Sunday.
“We do not stand for bigotry or prejudice of any kind and denounce these senseless killing and those responsible,” the band tweeted. “Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. Let’s keep it that way. This hatred needs to stop, and we need to stand up and work together to end it.”
A woman believed to be the mother of Scurlock’s daughter, meanwhile, posted pictures of him holding the young girl on Facebook while saying she couldn’t believe he was dead.
“I can’t stop looking through my camera roll,” she wrote. “My baby gone.”