During an interview with Megan Kelly on FOX News, Chief Putney confirmed that the “last information we got is deceased at this point”.
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Officer Brentley Vinson, who is black, then shot him.
At least one person was injured in the confrontation, though it wasn’t immediately clear how.
Charlotte Medic said it had taken eight patients – seven law-enforcement officers and one civilian – to area hospitals during the protests.
Police then unleashed volleys of rubber bullets, tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse the protesters, who began hurling fireworks and debris at officers outside the hotel.
The victim was 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott.
An organized protest began at Marshall Park at 7 p.m., with hundreds of people gathered peacefully with chants of “No justice, no peace” and “black lives matter”.
During heated demonstrations on Wednesday night, some participants clashed with reporters on scene. “I can tell you we did not find a book”.
BJ Murphy said: “We don’t got nothing to lose”.
As Charlotte’s white mayor and black police chief stood at City Hall and appealed for calm, African-American leaders who said they were speaking for Scott’s family held their own news conference near where he was killed Tuesday, reminding the crowd of other shootings and abuses of black men.
Putney said 16 officers were injured and they have made only one arrest but that could change once they look at surveillance video and speak with witnesses.
The protests erupted amid tension between police and the black community in Charlotte, who are disporportionately affected by law enforcement.
Family members say Scott was holding a book, not a handgun, a claim the city’s police chief, Kerr Putney, vehemently denies, CNN reports. Police said they Tasered and shot Crutcher after he refused to obey officers’ commands and reached into the driver’s side window of the SUV.
The City of Charlotte first tweeted out that the shooting was fatal and that it was civilian on civilian. A police officer was also being treated for injuries suffered during the protests, the city said.
Authorities have not released any video of Tuesday’s incident, but the city’s mayor said they plan to.
The Observer said a woman who identified herself in a live stream as Scott’s daughter said Scott was reading a book in his vehicle while waiting for his son’s school bus and was not armed.
Scott often waited in his auto on weekday afternoons for his son to get dropped off by his school bus, said Taheshia Williams, who lives in the apartment complex where the shooting occurred. Due to controversy, Vinson, who has served Charlotte’s Police Department for over two years, was put on administrative leave as the investigation unfolds and the civic unrest decreases.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And by late this afternoon, protests were starting up again.
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Multiple shots had been fired during the protest, which occurred near the
