Clashes after vigil for slain student
ATLANTA, Georgia - Violent clashes erupted overnight between police and protesters after a memorial vigil for a student killed by campus officers.
The school's president on Tuesday blamed the unrest on "outside agitators".
The clashes at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta broke out when several dozen of the almost 500 people who had attended the vigil for slain student Scout Schultz faced off with officers at the campus police headquarters, the school said.
Two Georgia Tech officers were injured and a police car was damaged, the school said in a statement. Images of a police vehicle burning were posted online by multiple local media outlets.
University President G.P. "Bud" Peterson said in a letter to students, faculty and staff that people at the vigil had been joined by others bent on inciting violence.
"We believe many of them were not part of our Georgia Tech community, but rather outside agitators intent on disrupting the event. They certainly did not honor Scout's memory nor represent our values by doing so," Peterson said.
Three people were arrested and charged with inciting a riot and battery on an officer, officials said. Only one of them is a current Georgia Tech student, the university said.
Schultz, a 21-year-old engineering student from Lilburn, Georgia, was shot late on Saturday after a standoff with campus police outside a dormitory. Police officials say Schultz was wielding a knife and disobeyed commands to drop it and stop walking toward officers.
Schultz' family and its attorney said the student had a history of mental illness.
Reuters
(China Daily 09/21/2017 page11)
