Protesters in Charlotte police shooting injure officers, shutdown highway

Vinson has no disciplinary history with the department’s internal affairs bureau, Charlotte police told BuzzFeed News.

Scott, a father of seven, was killed by police in an apartment complex parking lot as officers looked for another man named in a warrant they were trying to serve.

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts appealed for calm while B.J. Murphy, an outspoken leader of the Nation of Islam, called for an economic boycott of the city.

The armed man fatally shot by North Carolina cops Tuesday was given multiple warnings to drop his weapon, police officials said in the wake of violent late-night clashes between law enforcement and protesters.

His family said Scott, an African-American, was unarmed and sitting in his auto reading a book, waiting for his son to come home from school.

Demonstrators were met with tear gas and riot police Tuesday night, hours after the fatal shooting. When Scott did not put the gun down, Putney said the man was perceived as a threat and Officer Brentley Vinson, who is also black, fired his gun striking Scott. The woman alleged Scott was shot with a taser, then shot with firearms four times.

The unrest in Charlotte came just hours after another demonstration in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the shooting there of an unarmed black man by police. Scott was not the man they were looking for, but police engaged him when he then got out of and back into the vehicle with the gun, Putney said. When officers approached, the man exited the vehicle with the gun again.

Police Chief Kerr Putney said during a news conference Wednesday morning that officers were searching for a suspect Tuesday when they saw Scott exit a vehicle with a handgun. It is also unclear if Scott said anything to the officers.

Emergency services were called to the scene where they transported Scott to Carolinas Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

According to department spokesman Keith Trietley, officers saw the man get out the auto with a gun and then get back in. He says the man was shot because he posed a threat.

Detectives recovered a gun at the scene and were interviewing witnesses, Trietley said.

Police shootings in cities such as New York, Baltimore, Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri, have triggered more than two years of largely peaceful street protests punctuated by days of rioting and arson and given rise to the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement.

“We’re sick and exhausted of being sick and exhausted”, civil rights activist John Barnett told reporters near where Scott died.

“The community deserves answers and (a) full investigation will ensue”, she said on Twitter, adding in a subsequent post, “I want answers too”. We need to hold police accountable.

Putney said the video wouldn’t be released right now, calling it evidence in an ongoing investigation and citing the video law.

“The law is pretty specific, especially around evidence for an investigation, and I can not release it”, he said. Police said Ferrell ignored officers’ instructions.

“The videos I have viewed, I can not see the totality of everything that occurred”, he added. 16 officers have been injured, including one who has been hit in the face with a rock.

Protesters blocked the major highway Interstate 85, where they stole boxes from lorries and started blazes. “We will not allow [Scott] to be revictimized by the system that took his life”, the woman said. “Our intent is to bring anybody to justice who violated the law”. At other times, rocks and bottles were hurled at police, and several police cars were damaged.

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In anticipation of more potential violence, Putney said CMPD would have “enhanced” staffing going into Wednesday night. “We’ll be prepared for whatever we see.We’re hoping for best but will be prepared for the worst”.