Man arrested in fatal shooting of Charlotte protester, police chief says
Charlotte police on Friday announced the arrest of a suspect in the killing of a demonstrator fatally shot during protesters this week over a police-involved shooting.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department identified the suspect as Rayquan Borum and charged him in the shooting death of Justin Carr, 26, who was on life support and died on Thursday.
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Police said Carr was wounded in a protester-on-protester incident Wednesday night, during demonstrations downtown that led to over 40 arrests. Investigators are trying to determine who was behind the shooting amid claims that an officer was involved.
Tensions have flared in Charlotte since Tuesday's shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott, which was caught on police dashboard and bodycam videos.
Lawyers for the Scott family said they watched the footage Thursday, and the video shows him calmly walking back after he was approached by police outside a condominium complex near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
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The officer who fired the fatal shot was in plainclothes as part of a special unit and was not wearing a bodycam. But Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said three other officers at the scene were wearing bodycams.
He said he's reviewed one bodycam and one dashboard video so far.
Family attorney Justin Bamberg said in a statement that it is difficult to discern what Scott, a 40-year-old father for seven, was holding in his hands. Earlier, the family contended he was holding a book, but a weapon.
Putney has said a gun was recovered at the scene, but no book.
A photo taken by witness obtained by NBC affiliate WCNC appears to show a gun lying near Scott on the ground.
The officer who fired the fatal shot, Brentley Vinson, was placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard procedure. The State Bureau of Investigation has begun its independent review into the shooting.
