Charlotte police shootings, protest 2016: Interstate 85 re-opened, officers injured

Published 6:14 am Wednesday, September 21, 2016

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on police shooting and protests in Charlotte, North Carolina (all times local):

5:50 a.m.

The streets in Charlotte, North Carolina, are quite Wednesday morning after angry protests over the fatal police shooting of a black man left officers injured and shut down an interstate.

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Traffic is flowing again on Interstate 85, hours after protesters blocked the highway and television footage showed some apparently looting semi-trucks and setting their contents on fire.

No protesters could be seen around 5 a.m. but broken glass and rocks littered the ground where a police car had been vandalized during protests earlier. Less than 5 miles away, wooden pallets barricaded the entrance to a Wal-Mart that had apparently been looted.

The protests broke out Tuesday after 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot by a black officer at an apartment complex on the city’s northeast side.

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3 a.m.

Demonstrators protesting the fatal shooting of a black man by a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina, have shut down a small section of Interstate 85.

TV footage early Wednesday showed dozens of protesters on the highway facing a line of law enforcement officers. At one point a fire flared up.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation website shows a portion of the highway near UNC Charlotte is closed in both directions. The website says the closure is due to police activity.

Neither the North Carolina Highway Patrol nor Charlotte police could immediately be reached for comment.

The protest comes after police on Tuesday fatally shot 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott. Demonstrators had gathered earlier near the scene of the shooting before a smaller group moved to the highway.