A Minnesota man who was arrested and handcuffed by police Monday appeared unconscious and limp to witnesses before firefighters and EMS workers arrived at the scene, according to a fire department incident report.
George Floyd was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center less than an hour later. His death sparked protests throughout Minneapolis after video was posted to social media showing Floyd, 46, complaining that he had trouble breathing as police handcuffed him and knelt on his neck.
The four Minneapolis police officers involved with the arrest have been fired, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Mayor Jacob West also has called for charges to be brought against the former officers.
Hennepin County EMS was first to arrive at the scene, and the online video shows Floyd being put onto a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. He was still handcuffed at the time.
Engine 17 of the Minneapolis Fire Department arrived shortly after the ambulance pulled away, according to the department's incident report. When firefighters reached the scene, they tried to locate Floyd and overheard several witnesses say that police "had killed the man."
"Bystanders were upset but not unruly," the report stated.
Initially, firefighters were told that the call was a Code-Two to assist EMS, which later was updated to Code-Three, according to the report. The only patient information given was that an individual had suffered trauma to his mouth.
Eventually, a police officer told firefighters that the medics had moved Floyd to another location away from the scene. An off-duty firefighter who had witnessed the incident told the crew that Floyd became unresponsive while struggling with police, the report stated.
The firefighters were contacted by dispatch, which informed them that medics needed assistance a few blocks away. Once they reached the ambulance's location, two firefighters got in the vehicle, while EMS workers performed resuscitation efforts on Floyd. They also helped start an IV and prepare medications.
Medics couldn't find a pulse on Floyd en route to the emergency room. ER staff took over once he arrived at the hospital, but Floyd was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
The cause of death was inconclusive, according to the Star Tribune.
