Louisville protest

protests over wrongful deaths in Louisville and Minnesota

Police shooting of an unarmed black woman... breonna taylor.

What started off as a peaceful gathering...ended with seven people shot and destruction in the city's downtown area.

As abc 36's monica harkins tells us... the mother of breonna taylor says she wants people to protest her daughter's death... but in the right way.

She joins us live from the studio now.

L3 monica: white that protest follows the release of a 9-1-1 recording the night breonna taylor was shot and killed in her apartment by louisville police officers conducting what is known as a no-knock-raid for a drug warrant.

I don't know what is happening.

Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend."

That's taylor's boyfriend... kenneth walker... who says he thought the officers were intruders... fired on them... and they fired back... hitting taylor eight times.

Taylor is just one of a handfull of high-profile killings involving unarmed african-americans whose deaths have led to protests across the u-s.

In louisville last night..

What began as a peaceful demonstration, with around 600 people marching through downtown -- demanding justice for taylor... turned violent... with the shooting of seven people.

At least one victim is in critical condition.

Demonstrators clashed with police in riot gear.

The louisville police department says police did not fire their guns.... instead... using paintballs on the crowd.

Taylor's mother... tameka... released a statement shortly after the protest... saying the last thing she wants right now is any more violence.

Governor andy beshear read the statement during an interview with c-n-n this morning.

Please keep demanding justice and accountability, but let's do it the right way without hurting each other.

We can, and we will make some real change here.

Now's the time.

Let's make it happen taylor's family has joined the family of george floyd in calling for an independent investigation into floyd's death and say they also want to see national reforms in response to their deaths.

I'm monica harkins... abc 36 news.