9-21-2016-ERNIE ALLEN’S-TOP STORY-
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on police shooting and protests in Charlotte, North Carolina (all times local):
10:45 a.m.
An outspoken leader of the Nation of Islam is calling for an economic boycott of Charlotte after a police officer shot a man to death.
B.J. Murphy called for the boycott Wednesday at a news conference of black leaders, saying if black lives don’t matter, black money shouldn’t matter.
Murphy and others were reacting to the police shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, a black man who was killed Tuesday. Authorities say he had a gun and refused officers’ commands to drop it. The officer who fired the fatal shot is also black.
A woman claiming to be Scott’s daughter said in a video posted on Facebook that her father was unarmed and had a book, not a gun. Police say they did not find a book at the scene.
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10:30 a.m.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney says officers recovered a gun that they say a man had when he was shot and killed by an officer.
Putney said at a news conference Wednesday that 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott had a gun, but no book when officers searched him and his vehicle. A woman claiming to be Scott’s daughter said in a video posted on Facebook that her father was unarmed and had a book, not a gun.
The woman’s claims could not be verified by The Associated Press.
Putney also says several police vehicles were damaged in the protests that followed Wednesday afternoon’s shooting.
Putney says the officer who shot Scott, Brently Vinson, was not wearing a body camera. Putney says he cannot release body camera and dashboard camera video from other officers because of the ongoing investigation.
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9:45 a.m.
The Charlotte police chief says officers gave 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott multiple warnings to drop a handgun before fatally shooting him.
Police Chief Kerr Putney said during a news conference Wednesday morning that officers were searching for a suspect Tuesday when they saw Scott exit a vehicle with a handgun. He says the officers told him to drop the gun and that he got out of the vehicle a second time still carrying the gun. He says the man was shot because he posed a threat.
He says officers requested medical help and performed CPR on the black man.
The black officer who shot Scott has been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.
The chief said 16 officers sustained minor injuries during protests Tuesday night and that one person has been arrested.
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9:20 a.m.
A civil rights activist says he has a powerful witness to the shooting of a black man by a black Charlotte police officer at an apartment complex.
John Barnett said Wednesday morning that the witness did not see 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott make any threatening gestures toward officers before he was shot Tuesday afternoon. Scott died at the scene of the shooting.
Barnett did not immediately name the witness.
Protests lasted throughout the night, damaging police cars, causing minor injuries to about a dozen officers and closing down a part of Interstate 85 not far from the shooting scene.
Charlotte’s mayor and police chief also plan to make statements about the shooting Wednesday morning.
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9:10. a.m.
Charlotte officials plan to release a statement on the latest in their investigation of the shooting of a black man by a black police officer Tuesday afternoon.
The statement was to be released at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if a city spokesman would take questions on the investigation.
Streets in Charlotte were clear Wednesday morning after angry motorists protested over the shooting Tuesday night.
Forty-three-year-old Keith Lamont Scott was shot to death by an officer who has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation into the shooting.
Scott’s family was expected to meet with reporters at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
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5:50 a.m.
The streets in Charlotte, North Carolina, are quiet Wednesday morning after angry protests over the fatal police shooting of a black man left officers injured and shut down an interstate.
Traffic is flowing again on Interstate 85, hours after protesters blocked the highway and television footage showed some apparently looting semi-trucks and setting their contents on fire.
No protesters could be seen around 5 a.m. but broken glass and rocks littered the ground where a police car had been vandalized during protests earlier. Less than 5 miles away, wooden pallets barricaded the entrance to a Wal-Mart that had apparently been looted.
The protests broke out Tuesday after 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot by a black officer at an apartment complex on the city’s northeast side.
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3 a.m.
Demonstrators protesting the fatal shooting of a black man by a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina, have shut down a small section of Interstate 85.
TV footage early Wednesday showed dozens of protesters on the highway facing a line of law enforcement officers. At one point a fire flared up.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation website shows a portion of the highway near UNC Charlotte is closed in both directions. The website says the closure is due to police activity.
Neither the North Carolina Highway Patrol nor Charlotte police could immediately be reached for comment.
The protest comes after police on Tuesday fatally shot 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott. Demonstrators had gathered earlier near the scene of the shooting before a smaller group moved to the highway.
Associated Press
(Photo Source: AP)
