Protesters Gather In Charlotte After Keith Lamont Scott Killed By Police
Witnesses say Scott was reading a book and waiting for his son to get out of school.
Protesters assembled in Charlotte, North Carolina after Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by police officers on Tuesday, Charlotte's NBC affiliate WCNC reports.
Police officers say that they were serving an outstanding warrant when they found Scott in his car. According to police, Scott then exited the car with a weapon, putting the officers in imminent danger.
Witnesses say that Scott was in his car, waiting for his son to get out of school, when the fatal confrontation occurred. "Man was in his truck, reading a book waiting for his kid to come home," a man on scene told WCNC. "Cops shot him, for nothing."
In an interview after the incident, Scott's brother told Fox 46 that the police officer who shot Scott was in plain clothes. "He didn't have on a uniform to determine whether he was police or not," he said. "He just jumped out and yelled, 'gun' and shot at him."
Protests began on Tuesday night in Charlotte. Police in riot gear have gathered on the scene and have closed off the street, according to reports. Watch a live stream of the protests in Charlotte via WSOC.
Tweets from the Charlotte Police Department's Twitter account claim that protesters surrounded officers who were trying to leave the scene. "Civil Emergency Unit deployed to safely remove our officers from old concord," one tweet read.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Charlotte Police identified the officer who opened fire as Brentley Vinson, a black man who has been with the force since 2014. "As is standard procedure with any officer involved shooting, Officer Vinson has been placed on paid Administrative Leave," the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police continued in the statement.