
Police have insisted the man who was shot dead by a Charlotte cop was carrying a gun and refused repeated orders to drop it.

Father-of-seven Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was gunned down by Officer Brentley Vinson while standing next to his car in the North Carolina city on Tuesday night, prompting violent protests that left 16 officers injured.

His family have insisted he was disabled and was only reading a book when he was killed, but Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney says officers found a weapon in his vehicle.

Hours after the shooting, demonstrators arrived at the scene and began destroying marked police vehicles, setting trucks alight and throwing rocks at officers.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Putney said one person had been arrested and slammed the 'agitators' for turning a peaceful demonstration violent.

He added that the story of Scott's shooting is 'very different' to how it has been portrayed in social media, and made it clear that they did not find a book at the scene.

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Keith Lamont Scott (pictured left) was shot by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Brentley Wilson (right) at The Village at College Downs at about 4pm on Tuesday

His family have insisted he was disabled and was only reading a book when he was killed, but Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney says officers found a weapon in his vehicle. He is pictured center to the left of Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and right of the city's head of Community Relations, Willie Ratchford

Video shows one protester jumping on top of a police car and officers firing tear gas to break up the crowd

Another image shows a man dancing on the roof of the marked patrol car, surrounded by a crowd of more protesters

Charlotte's Mayor Jennifer Roberts has called for 'peace, calm and dialogue' as the city braced for further protests planned for Wednesday evening.

Students started the second round of demonstrations by staging a lie-in at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

The unrest unfolded as demonstrators in Tulsa, Oklahoma, demanded the arrest of a police officer seen on video fatally shooting an unarmed black man who had his hands in clear view at the time.

Criminal investigations into the deaths have been launched in both cities.

Video shows one protester jumping on top of a police car and officers firing tear gas to break up the crowd. Several hundred people gathered with some setting fires to block a major road, while others set trucks ablaze.

Some stole boxes from trucks before police used flash grenades in an attempt to disperse the angry crowd, an ABC affiliate in Charlotte reported.

A group of protesters then tried to break into a Walmart store before police arrived and began guarding its front entryway.

Some protesters were heard yelling 'Black Lives Matter,' and 'Hands up, don't shoot!' . They held up a sign saying 'Stop Killing Us' and 'it was a book', making reference to the object Scott was reportedly holding when he was shot dead.

The protests came just hours after another demonstration in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the shooting there of an unarmed black man by police.

Charlotte police went to the complex around 4pm looking for a suspect with an outstanding warrant when they saw Scott - not the suspect they were looking for - inside a car, department spokesman Keith Trietley said in a statement.

A protester tries to kick one of the tear gas canisters thrown onto the floor by police during the demonstrations

Police work at the scene of protests in Charlotte, North Carolina. More demonstrations are expected on Wednesday night

A protester walks with his right arm raised near police officers in the hours of the deadly shooting of Keith Lamont Scott

A demonstrator holds up a poster, claiming that police confused Scott's book for a gun. But cops have insisted they did not find a book in his vehicle

Protesters throw objects at police officers on I-85. Police said 16 of their officers were taken to hospital after the clashes

Some protesters were heard yelling 'Black Lives Matter,' and 'Hands up, don't shoot!' at police officers in riot gear

On Twitter, the CMPD said 16 officers were injured, including one officer who was hit in face with a rock

Police officers dressed in riot gear confront the demonstrators who cops later described as 'agitators'

Police in riot gear deployed tear gas to disperse the crowds of protesters who gathered in Charlotte on Tuesday night

Protesters march down W.T. Harris Blvd holding traffic signs and a bollard after the officer-involved shooting

Officers saw Scott get out of the car with a gun and then get back in, Trietley said.

When officers approached, Scott exited the car with the gun again. At that point, officers deemed the man a threat and at least one fired a weapon, he said.

However, Scott's brother told reporters: 'He was waiting in the car for his son to get from school.

'The police came with no uniform to determine he was police or not and he just jumped out and yelled "gun" and shot him.

'I think he shot him four times, I'm not sure, but he's dead.'

Scott, was taken to Carolinas Medical Center and pronounced dead.

Detectives recovered a firearm at the scene and were interviewing witnesses, Trietley said.

Both the presidential candidates reacted to the situation in Charlotte. Donald Trump said he hoped the violence would end while Hillary Clinton mentioned the victim, Keith Lamont Scott, and Terrence Crutcher, who was shot and killed by police officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Students take part in a lie-in at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, in protest against police brutality following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott

The students laid on the floor of one of the university buildings with posters scattered around them

Aerial footage shows huge crowds of demonstrators gathered around parked patrol cars in the middle of the highway

Police officers also used teargas to try and break up the crowd as the protests turned violent

A police officer attempts to extinguish a fire on Interstate 85 during protests after a man was shot dead by police

A cop clad in riot gear works alongside a blaze started by the demonstrators on a night of chaos in Charlotte

A police officer holds his baton in the air as he stands guard next to a parked car, a truck and a pile of burning debris

Riot cops remove a man from his vehicle from the middle of the highway as the protest intensifies

A demonstrator with a mask resting on the back of his head confronts police officers standing in a line opposite him

Police officers are seen holding their line during protests on the I-85 as the tension between officers and the demonstrators escalated on Tuesday night

Protesters demonstrate in front of police officers wearing riot gear after police fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott

Police officers wearing riot gear block a road during protests in Charlotte on Tuesday

Adam Rhew said police officers used around six to eight cans of tear gas to disperse the crowd

A man points at police officers wearing riot gear, standing in front of a bus during protests over the deathof Keith Lamont Scott

A police cruiser with broken windows is pictured at the scene of Tuesday night's protests

Officer Brentley Vinson - a former college football player - was identified as the officer who shot Scott, WCCB reports.

Officer Vinson, who has worked at the department since July 2014 and is also black, has been placed on paid on administrative leave, as is standard procedure in such cases.

Meanwhile, Scott's daughter Lyric Scott live streamed the aftermath of the shooting on Facebook.

In the video, she says that her father was parked and reading a book in his car while waiting for a school bus to drop off his son.

'My daddy didn't do nothing,' she is heard saying in the video. 'They just pulled up undercover.'

She added that Scott was disabled and claimed that officers had Tasered him and then shot him four times.

Around several hundred protesters gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina to protest the shooting

A line of police officers in riot gear work to control the protests which turned violent

A protester is pictured rising above the crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina, at a protest following Keith Scott's death

An aerial shot shows police in riot gear around a police cruiser facing off against protesters

Initial reports say at least 100 protesters gathered at the scene, with some throwing water bottles at police

The police officers were in riot gear stretched across a two-lane road. Some of the officers flanked the main line on one side of the road

Police blocked access to the area, which is about a mile from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Later on Tuesday night, video from WCCB in Charlotte showed police in riot gear confronting several hundred protesters gathered to demonstrate against the shooting.

Police blocked access to the area, which is about a mile from the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

The officers were shown backing up as protesters advanced down the street.

Initial reports said protesters gathered at the scene, with some throwing water bottles at police.

Adam Rhew said that the crowd began to disperse after police deployed tear gas. He said on Twitter that he estimates the CMPD used six to eight cans of tear gas.

The police officers were in riot gear stretched across a two-lane road. Some of the officers flanked the main line on one side of the road

Other footage showed protesters lingering around a police vehicle after shattering its windows.

Scott's black SUV (left) is pictured in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Charlotte after the shooting

Police in North Carolina said an officer shot and killed a black man carrying a gun at a Charlotte apartment complex - but his family have insisted he was only reading a book

Scott's daughter Lyric Scott live streamed video from the scene (above) on Facebook

Earlier, a tow truck was brought in to take another police cruiser away. Local media outlets reported that car suffered damage to its rear end.

One television news crew retreated from the scene after demonstrators began rocking their remote van, which was parked near the apartment complex where the shooting occurred.

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts appealed for calm and tweeted that 'the community deserves answers.'

In Tulsa, hundreds of people rallied outside police headquarters calling for the firing of police officer Betty Shelby.

Shelby shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Friday during a confrontation in the middle of a road that was captured on police dashcam and helicopter video.

Her attorney has said Crutcher was not following the officers' commands and that Shelby was concerned because he kept reaching for his pocket as if he was carrying a weapon.

An attorney representing Crutcher's family says Crutcher committed no crime and gave officers no reason to shoot him.

Local and federal investigations into that shooting are ongoing.