1 person killed, 3 injured after man drives car into group of demonstrators protesting police brutality in Minneapolis

  • One woman was killed, and three people injured, after a car drove into protesters in Minneapolis.

  • The driver was pulled out of his vehicle by demonstrators and arrested by police.

  • Police have yet to publicly identify the driver involved in the crash.

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One woman was killed and three other people were injured on Sunday after a man drove his vehicle into a crowd of demonstrators at an anti-police-brutality vigil in Minneapolis.

The woman, identified as 31-year-old Deona Knajdek, was pronounced dead at the hospital. Knajdek, a mother of two, "was using her car as a street blockade, and another vehicle struck her vehicle and her vehicle struck her" her brother, Garrett Knajdek, told the Star Tribune.

The three other people who were injured had non-life-threatening injuries, Minneapolis police said.

Demonstrators were protesting the death of 33-year-old Winston Smith, who was fatally shot by US Marshals in the city earlier this month. The protesters were standing at Lake Street and Girard Avenue when the driver struck the crowd, reports said.

Minneapolis police also said the demonstrators "struck" the unnamed driver and pulled him out of his car after the collision, according to the Star Tribune. However, people who were at the scene oppose those claims.

"He was going real fast, and he sped up the closer he got to the barricades," Donald Hooker Jr., an activist who was present at the protest, told the outlet. "He got out of the car, and he tried to run. This was an attack. It was on purpose."

Hooker added that the group of demonstrators "safety" turned the driver over to police at the scene.

The driver was later arrested and treated at a local hospital, police said. Authorities have not yet publicly released the driver's motive for plowing his car into the crowd. But authorities told WCCO that drugs and alcohol may have played a role in the crash.

The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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