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Demonstrators march from the Colorado Springs City Hall to the city’s police headquarters earlier this week in protest over the fatal shooting of a black man during a police stop last weekend according to CPR News.

The incident began when officers stopped two young men in connection with a robbery near the 2400 block of East Fountain Boulevard in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“During the encounter, one suspect reached for a firearm. At least one officer fired a shot at the suspect,” the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement the news outlet reported. Witnesses claim 19-year-old De’von Bailey was shot multiple times in the back as he tried to flee. Bailey later died at a hospital, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.

Bailey’s cousin, 19-year-old Lawrence Stoker, said he was the second suspect arrested by the police in the incident. Stoker denied he and Bailey had anything to do with the earlier robbery and the two were walking to Stoker’s girlfriend’s house when they were stopped by the police.

Stoker says Bailey did have a gun, but the officers on the scene did not see the weapon before firing on Bailey.

“He didn’t pull his weapon, they didn’t know. When he ran and they shot him, they took off his pants and it fell out of his pocket and they noticed,” Stoker said.

Stoker said he was taken to the police department and kept there until early Sunday morning. He said police didn’t question him about the robbery, instead asked him about what he should say if questioned about the shooting.

“It made something go off in my head — something’s weird.” Stoker said. “(They were) trying to persuade me that he might have been touching his pockets or something. I’m not doing that. That’s not what happened at all.”

The officers involved have now been placed on administrative leave and the incident is under investigation. The El Paso County sheriff’s office says there is body-worn camera footage of the incident, but they are not releasing the video at this time.

During the protest tensions ensued when two bail bondsmen arrived at the demonstration. “A verbal disturbance erupted,” according to a statement from the Colorado Springs Police Department, and a protester struck one of the bondsmen. Both men then drew their handguns. The bondsmen were later arrested for disorderly conduct.

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