Pictured: Boy, 17, fighting for his life in a coma after being shot four times in the chest and stomach by police for carrying a BROOMSTICK in Salt Lake City

• Abdi Mohamed, 17, was allegedly arguing with a man and holding a broomstick near a homeless shelter in Salt Lake City on Saturday night
• Police saw the scene, surrounded them, asked him to drop the stick 
• When he did not, ‘shots were fired’ and he was hit in the chest and stomach
• Father-of-one Mohamed, from Kenya, is ‘fighting for his life in hospital’ 
• The shooting sparked calamity in the streets all night, trams were shut down, and 100 police officers dispatched to contain the uproar 

By Associated Press

Published: 13:15 GMT, 28 February 2016 | Updated: 21:39 GMT, 28 February 2016

He was a really caring, good, loving boyfriend, and a really, good caring loving father, I know what he was doing every day, the things he would do for us,’ his girlfriend, Becca Monson, told Fox 13.

‘He just wanted to make sure we were loved and we were happy he put us in front of everything.’

The shooting sparked fierce protests that ripped through the city on Saturday night.

Around 100 officers were dispatched to contain the uproar as crowds shouted and threw objects at police, Fox reports.

Mohamed’s friend, Selam Mohammed, who was stood next to him at the time, claims the officers only gave the boy one chance to drop the broomstick in his hand.

‘The police said ‘drop it’ once, then they shot him four times,’ Mohammed told Fox News.

‘We were trying to break it up before the police even came, but the police ran in on foot and pulled their guns out already, they already had them, like, as soon as he was running he was already grabbing for his gun, not even trying to Tase him or anything…

‘He said ‘drop it’ [then] boom boom! Four times.’