City officials say police did not fire the shot. City officials also confirmed that a police officer had been transported to a hospital for injuries.
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The protests followed the shooting Tuesday of what police said was an armed black man by a black police officer.
However, posts on social media reported that Scott was unarmed and disabled, and family members say he was holding a book and waiting to pick up his son from school. “He sits in the shade, reads his book and waits on his kid to get off the bus”, Scott’s sister told reporters. The man was not shot by a police officer, the city of Charlotte said on Twitter.
Wednesday’s protests started as a prayer vigil, but a group split off and marched through downtown.
Scott’s wife, Rakeiya Scott, issued a statement on Tuesday that called into question the official account of police, but vowed to “work diligently to get answers”. But the chief said he can not release the video because the investigation is still underway.
A protest in a park was peaceful, the mayor said, and the rioting downtown was from a small group of agitators, the mayor said.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has declared a state of emergency in Charlotte, and says state police have been assisting the city.
“The officers gave loud, clear, verbal commands which were also heard by numerous witnesses”, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Police Chief Kerr Putney said at a news conference Wednesday morning, noting that the fatal confrontation unfolded “in a matter of seconds”.
Medic said they responded to multiple incident in Uptown, specifically around the College Street area.
Protesters face up to police.
“My heart bleeds for what our great city is going through”, McCrory said on WBTV-TV. A woman identifying herself as Scott’s daughter live streamed a video on Facebook from the shooting scene. “He was sitting in his vehicle reading a mother******* book”.
“We are exhausted of people, especially police, killing our black men”, Blanche Penn, a longtime community activist, said at yesterday evening’s rally, where the mood had begun as resolute but peaceful.
Brock Satter, with Mass Action Against Police Brutality, which has hosted several rallies around Boston, said the shootings are more proof of a system that lacks accountability.
Charlotte Medic tweeted that the person was injured Wednesday night but didn’t give details.
Uniformed officers at the scene were wearing body cameras, but the police department has so far refused to release the video.
“They have once again highlighted – in the most vivid and painful terms – the real divisions that still persist in this nation between law enforcement and communities of color”, Lynch said.
There have also been reports of looting near the Time Warner Cable Arena, which is home to the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
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He cited as an example the shooting of Jonathan Farrell, an unarmed former college football player shot 12 times by police in Charlotte after he left his wrecked auto seeking help from a nearby home.
