The incident occurred on the third day of intense protests that broke out in the second-most populous city in the US, following a large-scale arrest operation targeting individuals accused of being illegal immigrants.

Tomasi was struck as she reported live near the front line of the protests surrounding the city’s metropolitan detention centre.

Just seconds after she wrapped up a live cross to Australia, one of the officers turned his gun towards Tomasi and fired at her from close range.

She yelled in pain before the camera turned away. Tomasi was left sore but otherwise unharmed.

The shooting came about an hour after Tomasi was caught in the middle of a group of protesters.

She was trying to talk over the sound of gunfire and exploding flashbang grenades when a protester grabbed the camera she was talking into.

“They’ve told people to get out of this area, and protesters have been refusing,” Tomasi said.

“We are safe here. It’s just noisy. But you can see the volatility. I can see police here are firing rubber bullets at these protesters.”

The live cross was abruptly ended to allow Tomasi and the cameraman to get to safety.