Jacob Blake, the black man shot many times in the back by Wisconsin police officers is paralyzed from the waist down, his father has said.

Jacob Blake, 29, was shot several times as he went to a car and opened its door in the city of Kenosha on Sunday.

The shooting sparked two nights of protests in the city, with buildings and cars set alight.

His father has now told a US newspaper that his son is paralysed – although doctors do not know if it is permanent.

The shooting sparked two nights of protests in the city, with buildings and cars set alight including a police officer being knocked out cold.

His father, Jacob Blake Snr has now told a US newspaper that his son is paralysed but doctors are unsure if his son’s paralysis is permanent.

He also said Jacob has “eight holes” in his body from the shooting, contradicting police report that he was shot seven times.

“What justified all those shots?” his father asked. “What justified doing that in front of my grandsons? What are we doing?”

His fiancée, Laquisha Booker, described how the children were screaming as their father was shot.

Speaking to a local NBC channel, she asked why the police would shoot someone “who’s not armed, not giving you no problems”.

“You shot him numerous times for no reason, it didn’t take all that,” she said. “[You] disregard that my kids was in the car at all – and you knew that they were in there because I kept screaming that before y’all made it to the other side of the driver’s side to get him in the car.

“I’ve been yelling that the whole time, let me get my kids. So that’s not important to y’all. What’s important is killing somebody.”