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Police believe the mob set fire to an abandoned house close to where Terrance Shurn died

Riots broke out in Benton Harbor around 11 PM Monday night in the area of Empire and Broadway Streets. A police chase early Monday morning that ended in a fatality is allegedly what led to the riots.

A crowd of 300 to 400 people attacked Benton Harbor Police cars with bricks and bottles. During the riot three Benton Harbor Police cars were severely damaged. Police say over 60 officers responded to the scene from multiple departments. 

Police say a vacant house near Pavone and Empire Streets was set on fire by the crowd around 1 AM. Several area homes had to be evacuated and the Benton Harbor Fire Department was unable to immediately respond because of the riot conditions.  

The streets of Benton Harbor are now clear.

NewsCenter 16 photojournalist Scott Brink went to the scene. He described what he saw. "There were several hundred people. This is a large area, a big neighborhood. I couldn't get close enough to the actual situation to see how many people were down there. But I'm sure there were a lot of police officers. Ones I talked to were extremely angry at police and what'd happened.  That's when I moved forward and police told me to get out or I'd be arrested."

High-speed chase fatality
The incident that is believed to have fueled the riots happened early Monday morning. Terrance Devon Shurn, 28, was spotted twice speeding through Berrien County on a motorcycle going more than 100 miles per hour. The pursuit ended when he crashed into an abandoned home at the corner of Pavone and Empire Streets. Neighbors in that area claim that the police cruiser hit Shurn's motorcycle but police maintain that they followed pursuit protocol.