PROTESTS erupted in Louisville, Kentucky, Atlanta in Georgia and Oregon’s Portland on Wednesday night after a grand jury declined to press charges over the police killing of black paramedic Breonna Taylor on March 13.

Two police officers in Louisville were treated in hospital after being shot during protests, with the suspected shooter in custody.

In Atlanta officers sprayed protesters with what they described as “less lethal gas.”

US President Donald Trump said he was praying for the injured officers, while Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden focused on the grand jury decision, saying that Ms Taylor’s death made the case for police reform.

“We need to start by addressing the use of excessive force, banning chokeholds, and overhauling no-knock warrants,” he said.

Ms Taylor was gunned down after police executing a no-knock search warrant related to a drug-trafficking investigation burst into her home.

Her boyfriend Kenneth Walker, believing they were robbers, fired a shot after which they responded with a hail of bullets, killing her.

No evidence of criminal activity was found in the house.