Protest for Mark Duggan's Killing By Police

Protest for Mark Duggan's Killing By Police - At least eight officers wounded in the protests were hospitalized, including one with a head injury, police said. The demonstrations started peacefully Saturday night when about 30 friends and relatives of the victim gathered outside Tottenham police station to protest his death. The protesters say the man, Mark Duggan, was shot by police Thursday.

About three hours later, the protests turned tense when the crowd got bigger and started hurling projectiles and bottles at police cars, setting them ablaze, authorities said. "We did not have warnings that we were going to see the kind of disorder being witnessed tonight," said Cmdr. Stephen Watson. "We are aware of raised tensions in the community, which are understandable following the tragic death of Mark Duggan."

Protesters pelted officers with bottles and bricks as police charged at the crowd and blocked off streets.

A double-decker bus and some buildings in the area were also set ablaze, sending bright orange flames glowing in the night sky.

"For those who involved themselves in this level of violence, there is no excuse," Watson said.

Watson said the perpetrators may be brought to justice. But for now, the priority is to maintain calm.

CNN's Aliza Kassim contributed to this report. Petrol bombs have been thrown at police, two patrol cars attacked and a bus set alight after members of a community where a young man was shot dead by police took to the streets to demand "justice".

The 29-year-old, named locally as father-of-four Mark Duggan, died at the scene in Tottenham, north London, on Thursday.

About 120 people marched from the local Broadwater Farm area to Tottenham Police Station on Saturday, forcing officers to close the High Road and put traffic diversions in place.

After night fell, two police cars parked about 200 yards from the police station were set upon. Later a bus was set on fire at the junction of the High Road and Brook Street, which belched black smoke out into the air and was clearly going to be completely burnt out.

Rioters were also kicking in windows down the High Road and hundreds of people were gathered in the street including mounted police as smoke poured into the air.

Police formed lines outside Tottenham Police Station and, armed with riot shields, marched down the road to clear the immediate area of protesters. At one point a protester ran in from a side road and hurled a petrol bomb at the officers.

A local woman, who declined to give her name, said: "There's a theory going on that the man who was shot had dropped his gun, but they still shot him. I'm hearing that most of the shops in the High Road are being burgled and robbed."

A building along the High Road, near the junction with Stoneleigh Road, was well alight, presumably having been set on fire by the rioters. Police advanced along the road with their riot shields, driving the rioters back.

Earlier a family friend of Mr Duggan, who gave her name only as Nikki, 53, said the man's friends and relatives had organised the protest because "something has to be done" and the marchers wanted "justice for the family".

It was revealed that Mr Duggan had been travelling in a minicab and was gunned down after an apparent exchange of fire. Officers had been attempting to carry out an arrest under the Trident operational command unit, which deals with gun crime in the black community, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).