Durban - The death of a 16-year-old Down Syndrome boy sparked violent protests in the Johannesburg suburb of Eldorado Park earlier today.

It is alleged that Nathaniel Julius had left to try and find food for his family and while he was outside, he saw a police van with emergency lights on. According to reports, the teen became excited and police shot at him.

He was then taken to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital where he died a short while later. Police are also accused of trying to cover up the boy’s death.

When news of Julius' death broke, the community staged a protest, calling for the officers involved in the shooting to be fired.

nathaniel julius, a 16-year old boy who lived with down syndrome, was shot and killed by police for eating a cookie by a tuck shop. they then dropped his body by a hospital and his story was tampered with, saying he was involved with gang activities. #JusticeforNathanielJulius pic.twitter.com/xcYCuW4iYm
— evol⁷ (@internetphobic) August 27, 2020

Police spokesperson, Brigadier Mmathapelo Peters, confirmed that Public Order Police have been deployed to Eldorado Park this morning following violent attacks by residents who are allegedly accusing police of having shot and killed a 16-year old boy on Wednesday evening.

"At this stage, damage has been caused to the Eldorado Park police station building while two SAPS officers and one JMPD officer have been injured. Four suspects have been arrested for public violence," Peters said.

Cops under attack in Eldorado Park JHB. pic.twitter.com/JxxCLjw6Us
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) August 27, 2020

Police are calling for calm and restraint as this matter has now been reported to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate for investigation.

“Anyone who may have information of this shooting is urged to come forward with information that could assist in the investigation," Peters said.

IPID spokesperson, Ndileka Cola, confirmed that they had sent investigators to the scene to find out what transpired at the scene.

Mother of Nathan Julius. 💔😭😥#JusticeforNathanielJulius #EldoradoPark #Eldosprotest #SAPS #Bushiri #boity #BlackLivesMatter #AllLivesMattter #Coloured #Colouredlivesmatter pic.twitter.com/wgJs8eKVZj
— Genevieve Cook Ally (@Gena_Ally) August 27, 2020

She said the scene was quite volatile but they were hoping to establish what happened.

Meanwhile, #JusticeForNathanielJulius trended on Twitter for most of the day with people speaking out against police brutality.

IOL