News
Man Shot During Charlotte Protest
Update 2: After a correction was issued on Wednesday night stating that the man who had been shot at the Charlotte protest was on life support, not dead as previously reported, the police department confirmed Thursday evening that he has, in fact, died.
Update 1: Shortly before 11 p.m. ET, the City of Charlotte tweeted a correction to Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney's statement that the man shot during the Charlotte, North Carolina protest was dead. The City clarified that he is alive and on life support.
Earlier: A man has been fatally shot during the protests of the officer-involved shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to reports. Protesters were reportedly rushing police near the local Omni Hotel when the fatal shooting occurred, marking a second night of contentious protests in the Charlotte area. The man, yet to be identified, was taken to a nearby hospital with what medical professionals described as "a life-threatening wound" and has died.
According to reports from Fox News, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said of the incident: "We can confirm that we have one shot [in protests]... last information we got [is] that person is deceased at this point." Fox News also alleges that the Charlotte Police Department confirmed the man was shot by another civilian and not a police officer.
Local stations also indicate that in addition to this one civilian, seven police officers have also been transported to the hospital for injuries sustained during the protests. Many others have also suffered minor injuries, as riot gear-wearing police officers continue to fire tear gas at protesters. Some have been throwing rocks and water bottles into the crowd of officers, with one officer getting hit in the face with a rock.
This shooting follows a second evening of protests in Charlotte, as police and civilians clash over the shooting death of 43-year-old Scott.
The shooting occurred as police officers searched a local apartment complex for someone who had an outstanding warrant for an arrest (Scott was not this person sought). According to the police statement, officers saw Scott exit his car with a gun in the apartment parking lot. When they approached him, he exited his car a second time and allegedly "posed an imminent deadly threat to the officers, who subsequently fired their weapon striking the subject."
Multiple family members and witnesses to the scene claim differently, however, alleging that Scott, a disabled father, was merely waiting in the parking lot to pick his child up from the school bus. He had a book in hand, they claim, not a gun. But Police Chief Putney backed up the officers' report of the shooting, and said officers could not not find a book at the scene, according to CNN.
Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts also told CNN that she wants demonstrators to adhere to the wishes of Scott's family and the NAACP to maintain peaceful protests. She said that the violence was coming from a small group of protesters, and that another peaceful demonstration was occurring Wednesday evening in another part of town.