Protests Erupt Following Shooting Death of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte [Photos] | lovebscott.com

Protests Erupt Following Shooting Death of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte [Photos]

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At least 16 officers were injured after a night of protests in the wake of the police shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott.

Keith was shot and killed while officers were attempting to serve an arrest warrant to a different man within the apartment complex. According to his family, Keith — who was disabled — was waiting for his son to come home from school when officers arrived at the complex and shot him.

 

Police say Scott was armed and a gun was recovered at the scene by detectives.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said the officers felt their lives were endangered and at least one officer shot Keith.

“Officers observed a subject inside a vehicle in the apartment complex,” police said in the press release. “The subject exited the vehicle armed with a firearm. Officers observed the subject get back into the vehicle at which time they began to approach the subject.”

“The subject got back out of the vehicle armed with a firearm and posed an imminent deadly threat to officers who subsequently fired their weapon striking the subject,” police said.

Keith later died at a local hospital.

The officer who shot Scott was identified Tuesday night as Officer Brentley Vinson, WJZY-TV reports.

 

 

via Charlotte Observer:

The officers hurt suffered mostly minor injuries, though one was hit in the face with a rock, officials said.

At a Wednesday news conference, city leaders appealed for calm and promised a thorough investigation.

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts held a Wednesday press conference and urged the community to remain calm and wait for the facts in the case to be released before jumping to conclusions.

Her comments came just an hour before one activist group held its own news conference, urging the black community to start an economic boycott of white-owned businesses Charlotte.

Roberts says she has been in contact with the governor’s office, the White House and the NAACP, and said the city would work to get out information as quickly as possible, while also dispelling rumors being spread on social media.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said the department is still viewing video from the scene, though the officer involved in the shooting himself was not wearing a camera. Putney said the officer who fired the shots was in plain clothes, wearing a vest and was accompanied by uniformed officers when they approached the victim.

It remains unclear whether Scott was pointing a gun at the officer when he was shot, Putney said. The officer was also African-American.

Putney added that officers have not found a book at the scene of the shooting, contrary to social media claims that Scott was holding a book.

“I can tell you we did not find a book that has been referenced to,” Putney said. “We did find a weapon. The weapon was there and witnesses have corroborated it, beyond just the officers.”

Putney said the department would be staffed Wednesday in expectation of more protests, which he believes will be peaceful. “We’ll be prepared for whatever we see…We’re hoping for best but will be prepared for the worst,” he said.

The destruction late Tuesday and early Wednesday included blocking all lanes of Interstate 85 and looting a Walmart on North Tryon Street at about 3:30 a.m. The store was closed early Wednesday, with wooden pallets piled in front of the doors and shopping carts blocking the driveway into the lot

#BlackLivesMatter

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