Charlotte, North Carolina: One person was shot and gravely wounded on Wednesday in a second night of unrest in Charlotte, North Carolina, officials said, as riot police dispersed unruly protesters after the fatal police shooting of a black man under disputed circumstances.
North Carolina's governor later declared a state of emergency amid the disturbances and said the National Guard and state Highway Patrol troopers would be sent in to help police in Charlotte restore and maintain order.
Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney initially reported that a person shot during the protest had died, but city officials later posted a Twitter message saying the individual had been hospitalised in critical condition on life support.
The city also said the gunshot was fired by one civilian at another, not by police. A police officer was also being treated for injuries suffered during Wednesday's protests, it said.
Crowd dispersal
Putney told Fox News: "We’re trying to disperse the crowd. We’ve been very patient, but now they’ve become very aggressive, throwing bottles and so forth, at my officers, so it’s time for us now to restore order."
The flashpoint for Charlotte's unrest was Tuesday's fatal police shooting of Keith Scott, 43, who according to police was armed with a handgun and refused officers' orders to drop the weapon.
His family and a witness to the shooting said Scott was holding a book, not a firearm.
Authorities have not released any video of the incident but the city's mayor said she would view the footage on Thursday.
Governor Pat McCrory said he was acting at the request of the Charlotte police chief in sending National Guard and state troopers to assist local law enforcement.
"Any violence directed toward our citizens or police officers or destruction of property should not be tolerated," McCrory said in a statement.
Peaceful start
The latest trouble began with a peaceful rally that turned violent after several hundred demonstrators marched through downtown with brief stops at a black church, police headquarters and a large entertainment venue called the EpiCentre.
As they approached downtown Charlotte’s central intersection, protesters confronted a column of patrol cars and officers lining the road about a block from the Omni Charlotte Hotel, and began to surround groups of police and their vehicles.
At that point, police unleashed volleys of rubber bullets, tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse the protesters, who began hurling fireworks and debris at officers outside the hotel.
Protesters were also seen looting a convenience store after smashing its windows.
Sixteen officers were injured late on Tuesday and early Wednesday as police in riot gear clashed with demonstrators who hurled stones, set fires and briefly blocked an interstate highway.
“We are tired of people, especially police, killing our black men,” Blanche Penn, a longtime community activist, said at Wednesday evening’s rally, where the mood began as resolute but peaceful.
“Charlotte has always been quiet. But now it’s time to be loud.” Widely differing accounts of Tuesday’s shooting emerged the next day.
Police said Keith Scott, 43, was armed and ignoring officers’ orders when he was gunned down, while the victim’s family and a witness said he was holding a book, not a weapon.
Authorities have not released any video of the incident, but the city’s mayor said they plan to.
Scott’s wife, Rakeyia, issued a statement describing her family as “devastated” and appealing for calm, adding, “we have more questions than answers about Keith’s death.”
Tuesday’s disturbances in Charlotte unfolded as demonstrators in Tulsa, Oklahoma, demanded the arrest of a police officer seen in video last week fatally shooting an unarmed black man who had his hands in clear view at the time.
The deaths were the latest incidents to raise questions of racial bias in U.S. law enforcement, and they stoked a national debate on policing ahead of the presidential election in November. President Barack Obama spoke by telephone on Wednesday with the mayors of Charlotte and Tulsa, a White House official said.
