Second night of violent protests over Charlotte police shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Violent protesters rampaged through parts of uptown Charlotte as anger continued to build over the deadly police shooting of a black man and the wildly different stories about what happened from authorities and the victim's family and neighbors.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency Wednesday night in the state's largest city and called in the National Guard after Charlotte's police chief said he needed the help.

A peaceful prayer vigil turned into an angry march and then a night of violence after a man was shot and critically wounded as protesters charged police in riot gear trying to protect an upscale hotel in Charlotte's typically vibrant uptown. Police did not shoot the man, city officials said.

Video obtained and verified by The Associated Press, which was recorded right after the shooting, shows someone lying in a pool of blood as people scream and a voice yells for someone to call for help. People are then told to back up from the scene.

While there was still a heavy police presence in uptown Charlotte early Thursday morning, calm was restored overnight after hundreds of people filled the streets, protesting the deadly officer-involved shooting of Keith Scott.

Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew overhead for hours Wednesday night as protesters clashed with police in riot gear.

As the protests grew more and more violent, one person was shot and officials said that victim was currently on life support.

Four officers were also injured, but CMPD said they are expected to be OK.

Officials said roughly 500-600 protesters filled the streets of uptown overnight, with about 200 CMPD officers.

Police said several dozen people have been arrested in connection with disturbances and looting over the last two nights.

The unrest took many by surprise in Charlotte, the banking capital of the South with a population of 830,000 people, about 35 percent of them black. The city managed to pull through a racially charged shooting three years ago without the unrest that erupted in recent years in places such as Baltimore, Milwaukee and Ferguson, Missouri. Police charged Randall Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter within days, but the jury at his trial couldn't reach a unanimous verdict.

On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters who were shouting "black lives matter" and "hands up, don't shoot" left after police fired flash grenades and tear gas after the shooting. But several groups of a dozen or more protesters stayed behind, attacking people, including reporters, shattering windows to hotels, office buildings and restaurants and setting small fires.

Reporter Paul Boyd broadcasting live when gunshots rang out in uptown:

At one point, Chopper 9 Skyzoom showed protesters on the Interstate 277 loop around uptown, trying to stop cars for several minutes before police arrived.

"My heart bleeds for what our great city is going through," McCrory said. He was mayor of Charlotte for 14 years before becoming governor.

Authorities said three people and four police officers were injured, but those figures had not been updated early Thursday morning. Videos and pictures on Twitter showed reporters and other people being attacked.

Several businesses have been impacted by Wednesday night's protests.

Wells Fargo financial building employees in uptown do not have to come to work, and Duke Energy non-essential employees and Bank of America employees have been told to work from home Thursday.

Fifth-Third Bank non-essential employees also do not need to report to work in uptown.

The Epicentre will not be opening Thursday because of the damage from the violent protests. The damage could be seen in many spots in uptown, especially along East Trade.

At the Hornets Fan Shop at the Spectrum Center, protesters broke through windows, looting merchandise.

Police in riot gear could be seen firing tear gas, trying to break up the crowds of protesters when they started looting stores.

Some businesses were beginning to clean up the damage early Thursday morning. The manager of the Hyatt House was boarding up broken windows and scrubbing graffiti off the building.

He said one of his employees was punched in the face by protesters who were angry he was recording them with his phone.

State troopers said the owner of a nearby barbershop was also punched when he tried to keep protesters from looting his store.

Some of the most concentrated damage was in the Epicentre, where Channel 9 was told two of the stores that were vandalized there were the CVS and The Kandy Bar.

The tense moments escalated when a man was shot outside the Omni Hotel, across the street from the Epicentre.

The damage on East Trade Street stretched throughout uptown, with the most dramatic damage in front of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Someone smashed a road sign through the front window and after breaking into the Buffalo Wild Wings next door, they used alcohol bottles to smash another window.

On the backside of the building to the NASCAR plaza, employees told Channel 9 that they heard repeated attacks to windows. The suspects weren't able completely break through the glass, but as a precaution, employees still inside sheltered in place from around 11:30 p.m. until 1 a.m.

A few blocks away, on Brevard Street, the United Way was damaged, with smashed windows.

The violence happened amid questions about what happened Tuesday afternoon when 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed in the parking lot of his condominium complex. Police did not release dashboard or body camera footage, but said Scott had a gun and refused several orders to drop his weapon. Scott's family and neighbors said he was holding a book.

"He got out of his car, he walked back to comply, and all his compliance did was get him murdered," said Taheshia Williams, whose balcony overlooks the shady parking spot where Scott was Tuesday afternoon. She said he often waited there for his son because a bicycle accident several years ago left him stuttering and susceptible to seizures if he stayed out in the hot sun too long.

Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney was angered by the stories on social media, especially a profanity-laced, hourlong video on Facebook, where a woman identifying herself as Scott's daughter screamed "My daddy is dead!" at officers at the shooting scene and repeating that he was only holding a book.

Putney was adamant that Scott posed a threat, even if he didn't point his weapon at officers, and said a gun was found next to the dead man. "I can tell you we did not find a book," the chief said.

Not long after the Facebook video was posted Tuesday night, the first night of destructive protests began near the shooting scene, about 15 miles northeast of downtown Charlotte. Dozens of demonstrators threw rocks at police and reporters, damaged squad cars, closed part of Interstate 85, and looted a stopped truck and set a fire. Authorities used tear gas to break up the protests.

The distrust of police continued after Wednesday's shooting of a protester. Many demonstrators didn't believe officers weren't the ones who shot the protester.

"We protesting. Why the hell would we target each other?" Dino Davis said. "They say it was the tear gas, and it looked like one the tear gas exploded. But I think it was a rubber bullet because some of those rubber bullets can penetrate."

Calls for police to release the video increased. North Carolina has a law that takes effect Oct. 1 requiring a judge to approve releasing police video, and Putney said he doesn't release video when a criminal investigation is ongoing.

But that video may be the only thing that calms Charlotte, said John Barnett, who runs a civil rights group called True Healing Under God, or THUG.

"Just telling us this is still under investigation is not good enough for the windows of the Wal-Mart," he said.

After about four hours, the violence began winding down. Hotel employees and security guards immediately started cleaning up broken glass.

But Charlotte remained on edge. Bank of America told its thousands of employees working in its 60-story skyscraper to stay home Thursday.

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Associated Press writers Josh Replogle, Stephanie Siek, Tom Foreman Jr., Jonathan Drew, Martha Waggoner and Steve Reed contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group