Protests grip Sacramento after video of cops shooting unarmed black man goes viral

Hundreds of people took to the streets in Sacramento, California, after video footage of police killing an unarmed black man in a hail of bullets was released.

The footage was captured by body cameras worn by officers involved in the shooting which took place on Sunday. It shows Stephon Clark holding an object that was later revealed to be his cellphone. He was shot 20 times.

The video was released by police late on Wednesday and it soon went viral on the internet.

WARNING: Graphic content shows Clark being gunned down

Sunday’s shooting was the latest in a series of killings of unarmed black men by police across the United Stated since 2014 that has sparked a national debate about racial bias in the criminal justice system and the use of lethal force.

More than 200 demonstrators gathered on Thursday to denounce the shooting in a protest organised by the Black Lives Matter movement, with angry residents marching onto the interstate during peak hour traffic.

People were chanting, "It's not a gun, it's a phone," throughout the protests.

The crowd then moved to the Golden 1 Center basketball arena, stopping fans from entering a game between the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks.

Sacramento police said the shooting stemmed from a report of someone breaking car windows in a residential area where officers later found three damaged vehicles. Police said the suspect was also seen from a helicopter shattering a glass door of a house before jumping a fence into a yard next door.

The video from police body cameras showed two officers chase Clark through the dark with their flashlights and turn the corner of a house to face him in the backyard, yelling: “Show me your hands” and “gun” before they opened fire.

Officers waited five minutes after the shooting until backup arrived before approaching Clark to help him, police said.

The encounter unfolded behind Clark’s grandparents’ home, where he was staying, according to the Sacramento Bee newspaper, which spoke to his relatives.

Sacramento prosecutors were investigating the incident.

Clark's girlfriend, Salena Manni, will now have to look after their two young children alone.

"I just tell them, 'Daddy's always going to be with us. Daddy is in our hearts always and forever.'"

- additional reporting by Reuters