Jacob Blake's 3 sons were in the back of the car when the police shot him. A friend said it was one of the boys' birthdays.

• Three kids sat in the back of Jacob Blake's car while at least one police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot at him at least seven times on Sunday, said Ben Crump, Blake's attorney.
• One of the kids was celebrating a birthday, a man who said he was Blake's friend told a local news reporter.
• Blake's family has said he's in stable condition at a hospital in Milwaukee.

Jacob Blake, a Black man whom Wisconsin police shot at least seven times in the back on Sunday, had his kids in the car. One of them was celebrating a birthday, a friend said.

Disturbing videos circulating on social media on Monday appeared to show Blake walking away slowly from police officers and attempting to get in a car. One of the officers, pointing a gun directly at Blake, can be seen extending his arm to grab Blake's T-shirt from behind. Seconds later, as Blake faces away from the officers and appears to enter the car, seven shots can be heard.

Ben Crump, a civil-rights attorney who is representing Blake's family, said in a tweet that Blake's three sons were in the car during the shooting.

"They saw a cop shoot their father," Crump said. "They will be traumatized forever."

"It was his son's birthday. His son was in the car with him when he got shot," a man who said he was Blake's friend told a local news reporter, Chernéy Amhara.

Blake's family told news outlets on Monday that he was in stable condition in a Milwaukee hospital. His brother told a local news reporter early Monday that Blake had surgery and stayed in the intensive-care unit.

It's unclear what led up to the shooting; the Kenosha Police Department said only that the officers were responding to a report of a "domestic incident." People close to Blake and people on social media have said the police could have deescalated the situation instead of shooting him.

"They were called here, which could have easily been deescalated. It could have been deescalated," Blake's friend told Amhara. "I mean, I see him getting in his car, but you guys got Tasers. You could have Tased him. You could have found any other tactic."

He added that Blake "wasn't a threat to nobody."

Protests erupted in Kenosha shortly after the shooting on Sunday, WTMJ-TV reported, adding that some dumpsters had been set on fire. Protesters continued to demonstrate despite a police-enacted curfew in effect until 7 a.m. on Monday.

In a statement, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said elected officials "have failed to recognize the racism in our state and our country for far too long."

The Wisconsin Department of Justice said that it was investigating the shooting and that the officer who shot Blake was on administrative leave. The Kenosha Police Department, the unit the officer is a part of, declined to comment on the incident to Insider.