A black man whom police killed in a Charlotte, North Carolina, parking lot ignored their commands to drop his weapon, the city’s police chief said on Wednesday, hours after the shooting sparked violent protests that injured 16 officers. The police report says a gun, not a book, was recovered at a scene.
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“We are exhausted of people, especially police, killing our black men”, Blanche Penn, a longtime community activist, said at Wednesday evening’s rally, where the mood began as resolute but peaceful.
A black plainclothes officer in a vest emblazoned “Police” shot Scott after the officer and other uniformed members made “loud, clear” demands that he drop the gun, the chief said.
He said the video supports the police account of what happened, but does not definitively show Scott pointing a gun at officers.
While the police department is working to accommodate the Scott family’s request to see the body-cam footage, Putney reiterated that he has no plans to publicly release the videos, arguing that it would jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.
In Charlotte, protesters gathered again on Wednesday, angry about the killing of 43 year old Keith Scott.
Officials say police seeking a wanted man at a Charlotte apartment complex spotted Scott exit a vehicle armed with a firearm and posed an imminent deadly threat to the officers who subsequently fired their weapon striking the subject.
Charlotte city leaders held a news conference Thursday morning, following the second night of protests over the Keith Lamont Scott shooting. Authorities used tear gas to break up the protests.
The North Carolina National Guard arrived at a Charlotte armory early Thursday and some Guard vehicles left the armory about 8 a.m. At least a dozen protesters were arrested throughout the evening. He came, he says, to help keep the peace between protesters and police.
Overnight, protesters flooded part of Interstate 277, surrounding cars driving on the highway.
Local media reports said that several hundred people taunted riot police in front of a hotel in the city center, during which a man fell to the ground. “You shouldn’t expect it to be released”, Putney said in response to a question from a reporter.
The black officer who shot Scott, Brently Vinson, has been placed on administrative leave as is standard procedure in such cases.
Four police officers were injured during the protests. “Fatal shot uptown was civilian on civilian”, the city of Charlotte tweeted.
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Releasing the video would satisfy some people, but not everyone, he added.
