When shots rang out in Dallas Thursday night, striking 11 police officers and killing three, a peaceful protest of police shooting was turned into a scene of chaos as people fled for cover from the gunshots.
The gunfire, which was captured on video shared on social media, broke out around 8:45 p.m. Thursday.
Live TV video showed protesters marching along a street about half a mile from City Hall when the shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover.
Just before the shots were fired, Dallas Police had tweeted photos of themselves posing with demonstrators and posted videos of the non-violent action.
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View tweets about the protest
Dallas #blm protest was so orderly, peaceful that cops were posing w demonstrators until someone(s) started firing. https://t.co/Jvk2RWPIET
— Matthew Cooper (@mattizcoop) July 8, 2016
Demonstration in #Dallas @ Belo Garden Park pic.twitter.com/IUx5IaERSB
— Dallas Police Depart (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016
Men, women, boys & girls gathered @ Belo Garden Park for the demonstration re: recent police involved shootings. pic.twitter.com/gah2Q3tqG6
— Dallas Police Depart (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016
The @DallasPD was livetweeting the protest bc officers were peacefully joining in. This is all so sad. https://t.co/dL5JzIrkIO
— lara cohen (@Larakate) July 8, 2016
The @DallasPD is one of the better police departments in the country. They have repeatedly welcomed protests. https://t.co/zTng0nWQer
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) July 8, 2016
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Aimee Ortiz can be reached at aimee.ortiz@globe.com. Follow her on twitter @aimee_ortiz.
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