Charlotte Shooting: State Of Emergency Amid protests

One person was shot Wednesday during a second night of protests over a deadly police shooting in Charlotte, city officials said.

The person, who was not identified, is in critical condition and on life support, the city tweeted. Earlier, the city had tweeted that the person had died. The person was shot by another civilian, the city said.

One police officer was injured, according to a city tweet. The officer was transported to a hospital with undisclosed injuries.

The riot and protests came on a day in which the city's police chief gave more details on the shooting that took the life of Keith Lamont Scott.

Chief Kerr Putney addressed the Scott family's claim that he was reading a book in his vehicle when police officers approached and shot him.

Public defender in middle of protest

Putney said Scott, an African-American, was armed and no book was found at the scene. He was shot by an African-American officer after refusing repeated demands to put down a gun, which was recovered from the scene, Putney said.

Wednesday night, scores of protesters gathered in two locations in Charlotte.

Mayor Jennifer Roberts, who spoke by phone with CNN's Don Lemon, called on demonstrators to heed calls from Scott's family and the NAACP to remain peaceful.

"Go home and tell everyone violence is not the answer. The investigation is ongoing, it will be transparent," she said.

CNN correspondent knocked to ground

A protest in a park was peaceful, the mayor said, and the rioting downtown was from a small group of agitators, the mayor said.

Gov. Pat McCrory said the state is sending more troopers from the highway patrol to Charlotte.

"Any violence directed toward our citizens or police officers or destruction of property should not be tolerated," he said in a statement.

Many rioters and protesters dispersed after police fired tear gas before 11 p.m. ET.

Some apparently turned over trash cans and set the contents on fire. A few windows in at least one store were broken and one had "black lives matters" spray-painted on it.

Scott's family said he was unarmed and sitting in his car reading a book on Tuesday, waiting for his son to come home from school.

Putney said Scott exited his car with a gun, not a book. He said officers couldn't find a book at the scene.

"It's time for the voiceless majority to stand up and be heard," said the police chief, who is black.

"It's time to change the narrative because I can tell you from the facts that the story's a little bit different as to how it's been portrayed so far, especially through social media."

Putney said evidence and witnesses support the officers' claim that Scott was armed.

Officers repeatedly told Scott to drop his handgun, the chief said, but he didn't. Officer Brentley Vinson, who is black, then shot him.

 

The chief said he was not certain whether Scott pointed his gun at officers. Vinson, who was in plain clothes and wearing a CMPD vest, did not have a body camera. Three uniformed officers were wearing cameras, there is also dash cam recordings, and investigators are reviewing the footage, Putney said.

The mayor said she will be watching video from the incident on Thursday.

North Carolina law blocks release of police recordings

A person doesn't have to point a weapon directly at police to prompt deadly force, CNN law enforcement analyst Art Roderick said.

"You don't have to actually wait until a handgun is pointed at you because you're talking milliseconds of a decision as to whether you're going to pull your trigger, or that individual is going to pull their trigger," Roderick said.

Source: Edition.cnn.