Jacob Blake, who was shot multiple times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday evening, is now paralyzed from the waist down, according to his father.
Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times his son has “eight holes” in his body following the shooting. Doctors are reportedly unsure if Blake’s paralysis is permanent. Graphic footage of the shooting, per the Associated Press, shows police shooting at Blake's back about seven times as he walked away and got into the driver's side of an SUV.
Blake's fiancée Laquisha Booker told NBC’s Milwaukee affiliate WTMJ-TV that police shot him in front of their three children.
“That man just literally grabbed him by his shirt and looked the other way and was just shooting him. With the kids in the back screaming. Screaming,” Booker said.
Following the shooting, which police claim was preceded by their arrival on the scene in response to "a domestic incident," protesters gathered to condemn the police's actions and demand swift justice for those involved. Kenosha County declared a state of emergency curfew for Monday night, but protests continued, with some buildings being set ablaze.
LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell, and other NBA players have publicly reacted to the incident in outrage, demanding justice for Blake and his family.
Witnesses told the Kenosha News that Blake was trying to "break up a fight between two women" outside a home in the area when police arrived. Police, they say, "attempted to use a Taser" on the man prior to firing at him multiple times. Witnesses have also said Blake was unarmed.
“What justified all those shots?” Blake’s father said. “What justified doing that in front of my grandsons? What are we doing?”
Blake’s father is reportedly making the drive from Charlotte, North Carolina to Wisconsin to be with his son and grandchildren.
“I want to put my hand on my son’s cheek and kiss him on his forehead, and then I’ll be OK,” he told the Sun Times. “I’ll kiss him with my mask. The first thing I want to do is touch my son.”
On Tuesday, Blake's sister Letetra Wideman spoke to media about the shooting, Chicago Tribunereported. "This is nothing new. I’m not sad. I’m not sorry. I’m angry and I'm tired," she said.
Jacob Blake’s sister: ‘I’m not sad. I’m not sorry. I’m angry. And I’m tired. I haven’t cried one time. I stopped crying years ago. I am numb. I have been watching police murder people that look like me for years.’ (warning: distressing) pic.twitter.com/0Ot0FA7K0E
