12 officers hurt in North Carolina riots sparked by shooting of man
TWELVE police were injured during violent protests sparked by a colleague shooting a black man in a US city, it emerged yesterday.
The North Carolina riots were sparked by the shooting of an unarmed civilian
One officer was hit in the face by a rock hurled by rampaging mobs who also wrecked patrol cars, looted trucks and sparked fires in the streets.
Mayhem erupted in Charlotte, North Carolina, after 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott was shot by a black officer and died in hospital.
Police say Scott was carrying a gun and posed an “imminent deadly threat” but relatives insist he was holding nothing more sinister than a book.
Protests in North Carolina after African American man shot by police
Officers were assaulted with rocks and by rampaging mobs
Protesters blocked the major highway Interstate 85, where they stole boxes from lorries and started blazes.
The community deserves answers and full investigation will ensue. I want answers too
Police used flash grenades in an attempt to disperse the angry crowd.
Another group of protesters tried to break into a Walmart store before police threw a guard around it.
Officers in riot gear used tear gas on protesters who threw stones and bottles at them, waved heavy sticks in their faces and taunted them with chants of: “Hands up, don’t shoot.”
Relatives of Keith Lamont Scott said he had a book on him and not a gun
Charlotte’s mayor Jennifer Roberts appealed for calm but said she wanted an explanation over the shooting.
She said: “The community deserves answers and full investigation will ensue. I want answers too.”
Tuesday’s shooting came after officers were sent to an apartment complex with a warrant to search for a suspect.
They claimed afterwards they saw Scott – who was not the man they were seeking – get out of a car with a gun.
The town's mayor asked her people to remain calm while the matter is investigated
They decided he posed a threat and one officer fired, causing injuries from which he later died.
Detectives were said to have recovered the weapon Scott was holding and were interviewing witnesses.
But locals insisted that not only was Scott unarmed he was also disabled, a claim officials have not responded to.
Similar shooting incidents have renewed debate about race and justice in America and given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.