But what started out as a prayer vigil on Wednesday devolved into chaos as protesters marched downtown, facing off with police outside the downtown Omni hotel.
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The City of Charlotte announced that one person was shot, but it was not due to a police officer and instead was a civilian who shot another civilian.
The protests are in response to the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott – who was killed by police Tuesday after they said he had a gun and would not drop it.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney told a news conference Mr Scott first got out of the auto with a gun, then got back into his vehicle when officers told him to drop his weapon.
The city of Charlotte’s Twitter account attributed the unidentified man’s shooting to a “civilian on civilian” confrontation.
Shortly thereafter, protesters confronted police downtown and appeared to throw water bottles and chase police cars. Police fired tear gas into the crowd, after protesters lit off firecrackers in front of a line of riot police. Cops were in riot gear and using tear gas.
Earlier in the day, Keith Lamont Scott’s wife, Rakeiya Scott, released a statement asking for protesters to remain calm. Officers shot Scott after he got out of the auto again with a firearm “and posed an imminent deadly threat to the officers”, police said. Footage of the shooting captured by an officer’s body camera is being reviewed, authorities say.
After a night of protests on Tuesday that injured more than a dozen people and blocked a highway, Scott’s family appealed for peaceful demonstrations. One person had a life-threatening gun shot wound and later died.
Detectives were interviewing witnesses, police said.
The Charlotte Observer reported one man repeatedly shouted “Accountability!” at CMPD officers, while another yelled, “You don’t get to murder us and get away with it!” But what actually transpired on the Tulsa street between Terence Crutcher and officer Betty Shelby remains murky, The Associated Press reported last night.
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When Scott exited his vehicle a second time, officers approached and said they believed him to be an “imminent deadly threat”, reports NBC News.
