Black Lives Matter protesters at the north Minneapolis police precinct Photo: Reuters

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police said on Tuesday they have arrested a 23-year-old white man and a 32-year-old Hispanic male in relation to the shooting of five people near a city police station where demonstrators have gathered for more than a week to protest the killing of an unarmed black man by officers.

The police said in a statement that the suspects, who were not identified, were arrested in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges touted the arrests. “We are sparing no efforts to bring any and all those responsible to justice.”

The police, however, have not yet confirmed a connection between the shooting and the protest. The police said they will release the suspects’ name after they are charged and the search for additional suspects continues.

Police earlier said they were looking for three white male suspects in the shooting late on Monday. It occurred a block from the police station where protests have been held since the fatal Nov. 15 shooting of Jamar Clark, 24, Minneapolis police said in a statement.

None of the injuries in the Monday shooting were life-threatening and the wounded were taken to local hospitals.

The Black Lives Matter Minneapolis group protesting Clark’s killing said on its Facebook page that five unarmed protesters were shot by what it described as white supremacists who had been asked to leave the area and were followed out by protesters before they opened fire.

Kyle Loven, a spokesman for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Minneapolis Division, said on Tuesday that the FBI was “aware of last night’s incident and is coordinating with the Minneapolis police to assess the situation and determine whether federal action is appropriate.”

He declined to say whether the FBI was investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime.

Eddie Sutton, Clark’s brother, said in a statement that in light of the shootings, his family believed the demonstrations at the police station should end “out of imminent concern for the safety of the occupiers.”

“We appreciate Black Lives Matter for holding it down and keeping the protests peaceful,” Sutton said in the statement.

Black Lives Matter plans a march on Tuesday afternoon and Kandace Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the group, said the shooting has not shaken the group’s resolve.

Black Lives Matter Minneapolis put out a call for supplies.

“Family! We need warm food, gloves/hats, chairs, firewood, and snacks!! We are very low on supplies. Please bring down ASAP. We will not be intimidated,” the group said on its Facebook page.

Questions have been raised as to whether Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, which police have denied, and protesters have demanded that authorities release videos of the Nov. 15 incident.

Clark died the next day from a gunshot wound to the head and the officers involved are on leave.

Earlier on Monday, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton said he reviewed video footage taken from the back of an ambulance and said it does not appear to show conclusively what happened in Clark’s shooting.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating Clark’s shooting as is the FBI, which said the release of videos and other evidence would be detrimental to the investigation.

Authorities have said there was no video of the shooting from police dashboard or body cameras, but investigators are reviewing video from business and security cameras in the area, as well as witnesses’ cellphones.

A police union representative has said Clark grabbed one officer’s gun, although the weapon remained in its holster.

Clark’s shooting comes at a time of heightened debate in the United States over police use of lethal force, especially against black people. Over the past year, protests against killings of unarmed black men and women – some videotaped with phones or police cameras – have rocked a number of U.S. cities.

Police used pepper spray and fired rubber marking bullets at least twice when the largely peaceful Minneapolis demonstrations became heated.