One dead in Portland shooting after demonstrators clash

A person was shot dead Saturday in Portland following clashes between Black Lives Matter protesters and supporters of US President Donald Trump, police said.

The Oregon city has been an epicenter of BLM protests since the police killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in Minnesota in late May, and according to local media a "caravan of hundreds of cars" of Trump supporters also converged there on Saturday.

Portland Police tweeted a political rally was "caravanning throughout downtown Portland," adding: "There have been some instances of violence between demonstrators and counterdemonstrators. Officers have intervened and in some cases made arrests."

OregonLive reported "clashes" and "tense moments" between the groups, although police did not say whether the shooting was related to the demonstrations.

The shooting occurred at around 8:45pm downtown, police said later in a statement, adding a homicide investigation was under way.

"Portland Police officers heard sounds of gunfire from the area of Southeast 3rd Avenue and Southwest Alder Street," the statement said.

"They responded and located a victim with a gunshot wound to the chest."

The New York Times reported that Trump supporters and counter-protesters clashed on the streets, with people shooting paint ball guns from the beds of pickup trucks and protesters throwing objects back at them.

The pro-Trump vehicle rally began near Clackamas Town Center before reaching Portland on Saturday evening, with clashes breaking out thereafter between Trump supporters and counter-protesters, the Oregonian reported.

It added that the shooting took place after most of the caravan had left downtown.

Demonstrations against racism and police brutality have swept the United States since the death in May of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Tensions between rival protest groups have roiled downtown Portland every night for nearly three months following Floyd's death.

The Trump administration in July deployed federal forces to Portland to crack down on the protests.