Scout Schultz: Police car torched as violence breaks out after vigil for US student shot dead by officer

Violence has erupted on an American university campus following a vigil for a student shot and killed by police.

A police car was set on fire and had its windscreen smashed as videos emerged of police handcuffing individuals who had been forced to the ground.

Three arrests were made and two officers received minor injuries as about 50 people marched to the police station last night in Atlanta, Georgia.

The vigil was held for Scout Schultz, 21, who investigators said had been advancing on police with a knife when he was shot on Saturday night in Atlanta.

The Georgia Institute of Technology computer engineering student, who identified as neither male nor female and was a leader in the school’s LGBTQ community.

Investigators said Schultz had called 911 before the incident to report a suspicious person on campus.

“In the call, Shultz describes the person as a white male, with long blonde hair, white T-shirt and blue jeans who is possibly intoxicated, holding a knife and possibly armed with a gun on his hip,” a Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman said, adding that three suicide notes were found in the student’s room.

Investigators recovered a multi-purpose tool that included a knife at the scene but did not find any guns.

Flanked by Mr Schultz’s parents yesterday, the family’s lawyer Chris Stewart said the officer who shot Schultz overreacted.

“The mentally ill are looking for a way out when they’re having a full breakdown, and there’s no way you should be able to use a police officer to take your life when that person isn’t threatened,” he said.

Authorities have not identified the officer who shot Mr Schultz nor have they released the audio of the 911 call, which came in around 11.17 pm on Saturday, according to the GBI.