The second night of dramatic protests gripped this North Carolina city Wednesday night, one day after a police-involved shooting of an African-American man led to angry demonstrations, smashed windows and trucks set ablaze. Protesters beat against a police van and broke a window of the Ciity Smoke barbecue restaurant and bar downtown. Some yelled “hands up, don’t shoot.”
Police tossed out smoke bombs. Protesters running outside of the Omni Charlotte Hotel said someone had been shot but that could not immediately be confirmed Wednesday night. Church services also were planned in the wake of the shooting death Tuesday of Keith Lamont Hill, 43, who police say was armed and ignored commands to drop his weapon. Scott’s family says the father of seven had a book in his hand. Sixteen police officers were wounded in the violence that erupted Tuesday night in this North Carolina hub after word of the shooting spread across the country.Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney, at a news conference Wednesday, rejected claims Scott was holding a book, not a gun, and said the gun had been recovered by detectives. No book was found, Putney said.
