1 dead in Louisville after police and national guard 'return fire' on protesters

A man was shot dead in the Louisville protests after police officers and the Kentucky National Guard “returned fire” while clearing a large crowd during a protest early Monday.

Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad said in a statement that at around 12:15 a.m. his officers and the national guard were sent to a parking lot to break up a crowd.

“Officers and soldiers began to clear the lot and at some point were shot at,” Conrad said in a statement. “Both LMPD and national guard members returned fire, we have one man dead at scene”

Conrad did not specify who fired the fatal shot, and authorities have not released information about the victim. Louisville police say they are interviewing “several persons of interests” and collecting video. The city was under a "dusk to dawn" curfew on Sunday night into Monday, beginning at 9 p.m.

Louisville has seen a weekend of protests, as the city mourns Breonna Taylor, 26, a black woman killed in her home in March by Louisville police who were executing a “no-knock” warrant targeting her former boyfriend. More than 40 people were arrested Sunday night, the city's fourth consecutive night of demonstrations, according to NBC Louisville affiliate WAVE.

Last Thursday, seven people were shot in the city during protests that turned violent. Officers were not involved in the Thursday shootings, Police Sgt. Lamont Washington said at the time.

Kaitlin Rust, a reporter for WAVE, was on air on Friday when she yelled and said she was "getting shot" by non-lethal rubber bullets or pepper bullets.