Police say that the man shot during the protests in Charlotte on Wednesday has died. He has been identified as 26-year-old Justin Carr and had been on life support at Carolinas Medical Center since Wednesday night.
A homicide investigation has been opened into his death. City officials have claimed that Carr was shot by a “civilian,” but many protesters have disputed that, with some claiming that he was shot by police. Minister Steve Knight of Mission Gathering Christian Church and the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice released a statement saying:
I saw the man go down on the pavement … it was an ambush. The victim was shot while he stood between two ministers, and we believe he was shot by police. We would like to see surveillance video from the surrounding area that may have captured the shooting to determine who was responsible.
Other witnesses believe that Carr was shot in the head with a rubber bullet at close range by riot police.
As protests in Charlotte entered their third night the city government enacted a midnight curfew.
But protesters still crowded Charlotte’s downtown well after the curfew was supposed to take effect. As the curfew cutoff passed there was no sign that police intended to use force to clear the streets like they had on Wednesday evening.
Speaking to CNN, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police captain Mike Campagna confirmed that police would not clear protesters if they remained peaceful.
“It’s been a very peaceful group tonight,” he said, “there’s been a lot of people inside the group helping to make that happen … The curfew is there, we can use it as a tool if necessary if things go sideways and hopefully that just won’t be the case.”
