ST. LOUIS — A protester died after he got caught under a FedEx truck during protests in downtown St. Louis early Saturday morning.
It happened at around 2:19 a.m. in the area of North Broadway and O'Fallon Street.
Early investigation from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department revealed the driver of a FedEx double tractor-trailer was rerouted off the interstate due to it being shut down by protests and began driving down North Broadway approaching Cass Avenue.
Police said he was stopped due to a large gathering of protesters. While he was stopped, several people gained access to the first trailer and started to remove items.
Two men were standing on the passenger side footboard and showed the driver they had guns, according to the police report.
The driver of the tractor-trailer told police he feared for his life and honked the horn and began driving until he was stopped by police.
A man was stuck on the converter dolly between the two trailers and the driver didn't know, according to police.
Police said eventually the man was caught by the trailer tire, pulled under and was eventually run over by the tire.
He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Video showed onlookers screaming as they watched. The video has since been taken down from YouTube by the person who posted it.
FedEx released this statement:
“Our hearts go out to all those who are grieving the events of this week. We are deeply saddened to learn of a tragic situation involving a demonstrator in St. Louis and one of our vehicles. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family of the individual involved. There is no higher priority for FedEx than safety, and we are cooperating fully with the investigating authorities at this time.”
The protests began around 11:30 p.m. on Friday and lasted until around 3 a.m. on Saturday. A few interstates in the St. Louis area were closed to traffic due to protesters marching over the death of George Floyd.
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