They spotted a man with a handgun – later identified as Scott – exit and then reenter a vehicle, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief Kerr Putney told journalists.
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The National Guard and State Highway Patrol were dispatched to the area after Keith Scott, a 43-year old black man, was shot and killed by officers on Tuesday.
Federal help is on the way to Charlotte after two nights of violence after the fatal police shooting of a black man.
After the shooting, protesters began throwing bottles, dirt clods and fireworks at the officers. “We can not tolerate the destruction of property and will not tolerate the attacks against our police officers that is occurring right now”, he told CNN on Wednesday night.
Protesters moved downtown from Trade Street to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Police were serving an arrest warrant on another person when they say they saw Mr Scott get out of a auto with a handgun. He was reading a book in his vehicle when he was ordered to step out by police, and was tasered and shot four times, she said.
Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan, in releasing the footage to the public, called it disturbing and “very hard to watch”.
As reported above, the turmoil prompted Governor McCrory to declare a state of emergency in an attempt to restore peace.
Demonstrators protest Tuesday’s fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina.
At approximately 10:05 p.m., CMPD issued an order to disperse, saying they would arrest civilians, media included, that remained on the streets of the city.
Four police officers were injured during the protests.
Officers defended themselves with rubber bullets, tear gas, flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. Videos and pictures on Twitter showed reporters and other people being attacked.
Protesters have been demanding justice and an end to police brutality for months. Officials say it was a civilian who shot another civilian during the protests.
He was shot when he emerged from his auto holding his weapon.
Putney was adamant that Scott posed a threat, even if he didn’t point his weapon at officers, and said a gun was found next to the dead man.
Moments after her father was shot, Lyric Scott had started recording on Facebook Live, screaming at officers on the scene.
However, Putney added that he did not know whether Scott “definitively pointed the weapon specifically toward an officer”.
Chaos broke out in Charlotte, North Carolina, Wednesday night as hundreds of angry protesters clashed with police over the deadly shooting of a black man by an African-American cop a day earlier.
“We have been a model of community policing”.
Already tonight we have seen civilians, police and emergency responders injured. “This is not who we are as Charlotteans and I’m hoping we can move past these protests very quickly, move into more peaceful protests and back into dialogue”.
On Thursday morning, the North Carolina National Guard arrived in Charlotte at the center near Billy Graham Parkway.
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“In these days of ready video and audio recordings, we believe that reviewing these recordings can and will help both sides get to the truth”, it said in a statement.
