Police officers who handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a nine-year-old girl in the US city of Rochester, New York were suspended Monday, AFP reported.

“What happened Friday was simply horrible, and has rightly outraged, all of our community,” said Mayor Lovely Warren, who requested their suspension. “Unfortunately, (New York) state law and union contract prevents me from taking more immediate and serious action,” she added.

It is not known yet how many officers were suspended. The suspension will stay in effect for at least a week, until the conclusion of an internal investigation by the Rochester Police.

Footage from the cops’ body cams showed at least seven officers were involved in Friday’s incident. It has sparked outrage across the country over the excessive force used by the officers. 

Also read: US police use pepper spray on 9-year-old, say it was ‘required’

Deputy Police Chief Andre Anderson said on Sunday that the girl — who has not been named — had been suffering from a grave mental health emergency. She was reportedly threatening to take her own life and that of her mother, when officers were called to the scene.

According to the footage, the police finally responded by handcuffing her, and trying to force her into a car. They pepper-sprayed her when she resisted. At one point an officer can be heard saying, “You’re acting like a child” — to which she responds, “I am a child!”

The jarring footage of police violence against African Americans, especially the killing of George Floyd in May last year, sparked widespread protests across the US against racial injustice and police brutality.

The ethnicity of the young girl in Rochester is not yet known.

According to AFP, Rochester police said they were ‘required’ to use handcuffs and the pepper-spray for the girl’s safety. 

At a press conference on Sunday, Warren condemned the use of force against the young girl, while promising an internal review of the city’s law enforcement systems.

“It is clear from the video that we need to do more supporting our children and families,” she said.

“I have a 10-year-old child, so she’s a child, she’s a baby,” she added. “This video, as a mother, is not anything you want to see. We have to understand compassion, empathy.”

The incident is the second time in a year that Rochester has come under national scrutiny for excessive use of violence by police officers. In March last year, police hooded Daniel Prude, an African-Ameican man, who died after he was faced down on the road.