Who is Keith Lamont Scott? Man behind Charlotte shooting protests was ‘disabled and unarmed’ – here’s what we know

PROTESTERS have confronted police with signs saying “Stop killing us” after a cop fatally shot a black man in another racially-charged incident in the US.

The town of Charlotte, North Carolina, has been engulfed by angry demonstrations since the killing.

People chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Hands up, don't shoot!” marched through the town before things turned ugly.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department tweeted that demonstrators were destroying marked police vehicles.

And 12 officers were injured in clashes as the protests turned violent.

But who was the victim? And why are people so angry?

Here’s what we know about the killing of Keith Lamont Scott…

The police's story

Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was fatally shot by police after they descended on an apartment complex at around 4pm yesterday looking for a suspect.

Instead they found married dad-of-seven Scott sitting in his car in the car park.

Local police chief Kerr Putney said he was armed, leading at least one officer to shoot him as they feared for their own safety.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a statement: “The subject exited the vehicle armed with a firearm.

“Officers observed the subject get back into the vehicle at which time they began to approach the subject.

“The subject got back out of the vehicle armed with a firearm and posed an imminent deadly threat to officers who subsequently fired their weapon striking the subject.”

Scott was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead.

Police say they recovered a gun from the scene of the shooting which they claim he was carrying when he was killed.

The cop who pulled the trigger has since been named as Officer Brentley Vinson.

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Scott’s family’s story

Scott’s family tell a different story to the official police line.

They claim he was reading a book in his car moments before he was killed, as he waited for his son to be dropped off by the school bus.

And they say the “great man and great father” – who waited there every day for his son after school – was disabled.

His brother also claimed to local media the officer who shot him was undercover in plainclothes – a detail police have yet to confirm or deny.

Charlotte’s Mayor Jennifer Roberts tweeted that “the community deserves answers” over the killing, as she appealed for calm on the streets.

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