A teenage boy holding a broomstick has been shot on the streets of Salt Lake City in the USA.

Another boy named Selam Mohammad confirmed his friend has been shot by police, according to the Salt Lake Tribune

Mr Mohammed said he and his friend had been in an altercation on the road when police arrived, and police had told his friend to drop the broomstick handle.

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“They told him to put it down, once,” Mr Mohammad said, and “started shooting him as soon as he turned around.”

The boy was reportedly shot in the stomach and chest.

The newspaper reported anger and hostility had erupted after the shooting, which occurred after police were called to the area in response to a separate incident.

The Salt Lake City Police Department said one officer, possibly two were involved in the shooting.

Journalists reported seeing onlookers throw rocks at police officers and yelling obscenities.

There were “a lot of hostile people upset about what had taken place,” Detective Greg Wilking told the newspaper.

One Twitter user uploaded a video of the scene, claiming a group of people had assembled and were chanting “F*** the police”.

Det Wilking also said police had detained a number of people in the area, but did not say why.

The area is said to be populated with a a high number of homeless people and is a hotspot for drug deals, according to the Tribune.

Police shooting of minority groups has been highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA in recent years, spurred by the shooting death of 18-year old Michael Brown in 2013.

The international movement is based on the belief black people suffer racial discrimination leading to undue police violence and brutality.

Additional info: officers on unrelated call in area, alerted to assault in progress, tried to engage altercation. Investigation cont. #OICI

— SLC Police Dept. (@slcpd) February 28, 2016