DALLAS  — At least two snipers opened fire on police officers during protests in Dallas on Thursday night, killing four officers and injuring seven others, police said.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown told reporters the snipers fired “ambush style” upon the officers. He said police had a suspect cornered and were negotiating with him. Brown said 11 officers were shot, three of them fatally. Police later tweeted that a fourth officer had died.

The gunfire broke out around 8:45 p.m. Thursday while hundreds of people were gathered to protest fatal police shootings this week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota.

The protesters had gathered after a Minnesota officer on Wednesday fatally shot Philando Castile while he was in a car with a woman and a child in a St. Paul suburb. The aftermath of the shooting was purportedly livestreamed in a widely shared Facebook video.

A day earlier, Alton Sterling was shot in Louisiana after being pinned to the pavement by two white officers. That, too, was captured on a cellphone video.

Video footage from the scene showed that protesters were marching along a street in downtown, about half a mile from City Hall, when the shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement saying he has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety director to offer “whatever assistance the City of Dallas needs at this time.”

“In times like this we must remember — and emphasize — the importance of uniting as Americans,” Abbott said.

The search for the gunman stretched throughout downtown, an area of hotels, restaurants, businesses and some residential apartments. The scene was chaotic, with helicopters hovering overhead and officers with automatic rifles on the street corners.

“Everyone just started running,” Devante Odom, 21, told The Dallas Morning News. “We lost touch with two of our friends just trying to get out of there.”

Carlos Harris, who lives downtown told the newspaper that the shooters “were strategic. It was tap tap pause. Tap tap pause.”

The gunshots in Dallas came amid protests nationwide over the recent police shootings.

In midtown Manhattan, protesters first gathered in Union Square Park where they chanted “The people united, never be divided!” and “What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now!”

A group of protesters then left the park and began marching up Fifth Avenue blocking traffic during the height of rush hour as police scrambled to keep up. Another group headed through Herald Square and Times Square where several arrests were reported.

Story: Terry Wallace

CLIFTON, N.J. — Officials say a New Jersey woman found a winning lottery ticket worth more than USD$470,000 (16.5 million baht) while preparing to file her taxes.

The state lottery announced on Thursday that Yokasta Boyer, of Clifton, found the Jersey Cash 5 ticket from an April 2015 drawing and was able to file her claim about two weeks before the ticket expired in April.

Boyer says she had her brother verify the winning numbers after finding the ticket.

Boyer, who has a full-time and part-time job, says she plans to pay off her debts and spend more time with family and friends during the coming Christmas holiday season.

The ticket was bought at the Quick Mart in Clifton.

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MARSEILLE, France  — France is heading back to soccer’s elite, and Antoine Griezmann is the man leading the way.

Griezmann scored both goals to give France a 2-0 win over world champion Germany on Thursday and a place in the European Championship final against Portugal.

It was a victory built as much on German errors as it was on Griezmann’s skill, with a handball in the box and a poor defensive pass paving the way for his goals.

But that didn’t matter to the fans who made Marseille’s Stade Velodrome ring with the sound of the “Marseillaise,” France’s national anthem. Their team won this tournament in 2000, two years after lifting the World Cup, but it hasn’t had a trophy since then.

Developed as a player in Spain, Griezmann has been the star of the show for France, leading a high-scoring team with six goals, twice as many as any other player in the tournament.

“I think there’s a lot of happiness around France tonight,” said coach Didier Deschamps, whose team faces Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal on Sunday at the Stade de France.

“This team has everything it needs to be loved, I’m very proud… It’s fabulous to be in the final.”

Griezmann, who could have completed a hat trick in the 86th minute but shot straight at goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, was already looking ahead.

“We’re very happy,” he said. “We have to keep our feet on the ground. We still have a match to go.”

For Germany, defeat cost it the chance to add the European title to the World Cup it won in 2014.

It had gone 50 years unbeaten against host nations at major tournaments, dating back to its loss to England in the 1966 World Cup final and encompassing a famous 7-1 humbling of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semifinals.

While a repeat of the Brazil rout was never on the cards, Germany could have scored more than once as it dominated the first half. But it was denied by poor shooting from Thomas Mueller, who ended his tournament scoreless, and a save by Hugo Lloris to block Emre Can’s bouncing shot.

France took the lead from the penalty spot in first half stoppage time after Bastian Schweinsteiger handled the ball in an aerial challenge with Patrice Evra.

Griezmann stepped up to score, striking the penalty hard to Neuer’s right.

“I really wanted to take a penalty in a big match like that. I was very composed, I didn’t think twice,” Griezmann said.

It was the second time in as many games that Germany had given away a spot-kick for handball. Jerome Boateng blocked the ball with an arm above his head in the quarterfinal against Italy.

“It’s just bad luck, just an unlucky action,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said of the penalty. “In a challenge, when you’re jumping, there are movements that you can’t really control.”

Trailing in a match for the first time in the tournament, Germany could not recover its previous dominance after halftime. It then had to cope with losing key defender Boateng, who picked up an ankle injury after an hour.

The German defense had not conceded from open play all tournament, but it fell apart for Griezmann’s second goal in the 72nd minute. A sluggish pass by Benedikt Hoewedes to right back Joshua Kimmich was cut out by Paul Pogba and Neuer could only palm away the midfielder’s cross to Griezmann, who finished with ease.

Germany responded well and could have pulled one back when Kimmich hit the post, before Julian Draxler sent a free-kick narrowly wide and Hoewedes headed over.

“We had chances to come back,” Neuer said. “We played a good European Championship and it’s very bitter to go out.”

Loew insisted his team had played better than France but had been denied by “bad luck,” including the injuries and suspensions that hit four key players – Boateng, as well as defender Mats Hummels, midfielder Sami Khedira and forward Mario Gomez, with the latter three missing the game.

Loew, who is under contract until the 2018 World Cup, said he was not sure of his future.

France, while not always reassuring in defense, came through victorious in its first game of the tournament against genuinely top-class opposition.

After the final whistle, France’s jubilant players celebrated with the fans by performing the “Huh” chant made famous at the tournament by Iceland.

Across France and in the French team, the attention was firmly on the diminutive Griezmann after another decisive performance. “He’s our little man that gives us that bit extra,” teammate Olivier Giroud said.

Story: James Ellingworth