Atlanta police fatally shoot handcuffed woman after gunfight inside patrol car

Atlanta police shot and killed a handcuffed black woman on Thursday after she fired on two officers from inside a patrol car, the city's police department said.

The woman had been arrested and was in the back of the vehicle in downtown Atlanta around 5 p.m. local time, Atlanta Police Sergeant Gregory Lyon said in an email.

She then fired on the officers, who were also black, sitting in the front of the car, Lyon said. The officers returned fire. The woman was taken to a local hospital where she later died, he said.

The shooting comes as protests reignite in cities around the United States over police use of lethal force against minorities, especially of unarmed black men.

The woman's name was not being made public pending notification of next of kin, police said.

(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Curtis Skinner)