Update: City officials later amended their earlier statements the man is alive, but on life support and in critical condition at an area hospital.
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Protests had remained peaceful in uptown on Wednesday, after the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.
Rakeiya did question statements put out by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Chief Kerr Putney and city officials on Wednesday.
Officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were at an apartment complex searching for a suspect with an outstanding warrant shortly before 4 p.m. when they saw a man get out of his vehicle with a firearm, public affairs officer Keith Trietley said in a written statement.
A short time later, police began firing flash grenades at protesters who were throwing fireworks at them.
The protesters also criticized police for their response Tuesday night when officers used tear gas and batons to disperse crowds on Old Concord Road near where Scott was fatally shot.
A group of protesters nevertheless marched to a major highway early Wednesday, shutting down traffic in both directions.
“He stepped out, posing a threat to the officers, and officer Brentley Vinson subsequently fired his weapon, striking the subject”, the police chief said.
The incident occurred just after 8:30 and prompted CMPD officers in riot gear to barricade the entrance to the hotel. At least one protester knocked down a reporter during a live shot. A black plainclothes officer in a vest emblazoned “Police” shot Scott after the officer and other uniformed members of the force made “loud, clear” demands that he drop the gun, the chief said. He was not carrying a gun but a book when he was shot dead, they said – an account police disputed. Dino Davis said. “They say it was the tear gas, and it looked like one the tear gas exploded”.
The three uniformed officers had body cameras; the plainclothes officer did not, police said.
The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave, Mayor Jennifer Roberts said.
Protesters demonstrate in Charlotte, N.C., Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016.
Monroe said black people deserve to be safe in the streets and don’t feel the way in the spate of recent police shootings.
In 2013, Charlotte police charged one of their own, Randall Kerrick, with voluntary manslaughter days after the white officer shot an unarmed black man who had been in a wreck and was looking for help. There were a few protests but no violence.
Some of those who gathered yesterday at the scene of the shooting appeared shell-shocked in the aftermath of Scott’s death.
Taheshia Williams said her balcony overlooks the shady parking spot where Scott was Tuesday afternoon.
Williams noted that she believed Scott had complied “exactly” with specific police orders to exit the auto and walk to the back of the vehicle. “He got a gun!’ Pow, pow, pow, pow”, she said.
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Putney said Scott, an African-American, was armed and no book was found at the scene.
