Mexico ? Two shootouts left an American journalist dead and several other people injured Friday in this city where protesters have barricaded streets and occupied government buildings for five months in a bid to oust the governor.

The gunfire erupted in a rough Oaxaca neighborhood when armed men tried to remove a blockade set up by protesters who are demanding the resignation of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz, a police official said. Both sides fired but it was not clear who shot first, he said.

The American victim was identified by friends as Bradley Roland Will, 36, of New York City. He was shot in the abdomen and died later at a Red Cross hospital, police and witnesses said. Hinrich Schuleze, a co-worker of Will’s, said he worked for Indymedia.org, an independent Web-based media organization.

Oswaldo Ramirez, a photographer for the Mexico City daily newspaper Milenio, was shot in the foot and taken to the hospital, Milenio said on its Web site.

The second shootout erupted between protesters and a group outside the state prosecutor’s office and left three people injured, the police official said.