The second night of protests over police shooting in Charlotte on Wednesday, ended with one person being shot, said city officials. The civilian, who was not identified, is in critical condition and on life support, the city tweeted; adding that the person was shot by another civilian.
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency in Charlotte and called in the National Guard after Charlotte’s police chief said he needed the help.
Several hundred people were jeering the police in front of a hotel in the city center. Some protesters banged on glass windows, others threw objects at police and stood on cars as police appeared to fire tear gas, prompting demonstrators to run.
AFP reported that Mayor Jennifer Roberts had earlier in the day called for peace saying, “We are calling for peace, we are calling for calm, we are calling for dialogue. We all see this as a tragedy.”
Meanwhile, while talking to CNN, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said he had ‘initiated efforts’ to help deal with the protests. “Any violence directed toward our citizens or police officers or destruction of property should not be tolerated,” he said.
“We cannot tolerate violence. We cannot tolerate the destruction of property and will not tolerate the attacks towards our police officers that are occurring right now,” he added.
The protests are following the death of Keith Lamont Scott (43) who was shot in an apartment parking lot on Tuesday after an encounter with police officers searching for a suspect.
Police claim they saw Scott get out of a car with a handgun, while going in to apprehend the suspect. Officers add that they repeatedly told Scott to drop his handgun before he was shot but his family say he was reading a book, as he waited for his son to be dropped off by the school bus.
Dash-cam footage of the incident will be viewed by Charlotte’s mayor but not released to the public ‘at that time’, city officials said.
