CHARLOTTE -- Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and CMPD Chief Kerr Putney held a news conference on Thursday morning, reviewing the city's response during Wednesday night’s uptown riots and assuring the public on their level of preparedness in the days ahead.

“This has been a difficult couple of days for the City of Charlotte. The events we saw last night are not the Charlotte we know and love,” said Mayor Roberts.

The conference comes after two nights of protests took place, both in uptown Charlotte on Wednesday night and in University City on Tuesday night, following the Tuesday fatal shooting of Keith Scott by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Brentley Vinson.

Chief Kerr Putney said a total of five officers were injured during Wednesday’s protest-- two officers sustained non-serious eye injuries and three were treated for heat-related injuries.

A total of nine civilians were injured including one shot who is currently in critical condition. Putney addressed speculation that a officer may have been involved in that shooting by assuring that a proper investigation is taking place.

“We’re here to seek the truth,” Putney said.

Additionally, a total of 44 arrests took place on failure to disperse, assault and breaking and entering charges.

Chief Putney provided the following timeline of Wednesday’s events:

  • 6 p.m. – Group of peaceful protesters gathered in Marshall Park, later moved peacefully toward police headquarters; later additional protesters joined and blocked roads as they headed toward transit and the EpiCentre
  • 8 p.m. – Group started to jump on vehicles on 7th Street and damaged property in the EpiCentre; Civil Emergency Unit deployed at that point
  • 8:30 p.m. – Officers report to North College and East Trade on assault with deadly weapon call; person found with gunshot wound at Omni Hotel, transported by helicopter to CMC Main, in critical condition
  • 8:43 p.m. – Tear gas deployed
  • 9 p.m. – Group moves toward Trade and College; police respond to disperse them
  • 9:07 p.m. – Transit closes and operations moved; later group moves toward I-277, shuts down the loop; resources move to that area
  • 11:55 p.m. – Light rail operations halted; protesters continue to damage property and assault officers
  • 12:30 a.m. – Leaders declare State of Emergency for Charlotte; as a result, State Highway Patrol and National Guard now involved to help protect infrastructure and help prevent looting and damage of businesses
  • 3 a.m. – Protests subside; damage to property subsides

Going forward, Chief Putney said they are prepared for Thursday evening and the days ahead with additional resources including the State Highway Patrol, the National Guard and 100 additional assets. He also mentioned the readiness of the Civil Emergency Unit, officers on bike and foot patrol, an aviation unit and realtime crime center with roughly 1,000 cameras throughout the city.

Expect a “heavy uniformed presence” throughout they city, Putney said.

Putney and Roberts said with the additional resources in place, they do not see a need for a curfew to be put in place at this time, but called it a “fluid situation” and said they will continue to monitor the situation carefully. Additionally, Roberts reminded the public that the city is open on Thursday, despite Wednesday night’s events.

“Today our city is open for business as usual, our buses are running, we are here to serve,” said Roberts.

Roberts as well as Community Relations Committee Director Willie Ratchford urged the public to protest peacefully in the days ahead.

“I ask again for calm, peaceful demonstrations from our citizens,” said Roberts.

“Do what is right and just on factual information, not on speculation,” said Ratchford.

Roberts reminded the public that family of Keith Scott is also asking that the public remain peaceful during protests.

Putney addressed many questions about the release of the video of the shooting that killed Keith Scott. He said it is their practice to not release the video until the victim’s family has had a chance to view it, which they have requested to do. He also repeated that the video will most likely not be released anytime soon as it’s possible the SBI will be involved in the investigation and halt the process.

"The video does not give me absolute definitive visual evidence that would confirm that a person is pointing a gun. I did not see that in the videos that I've reviewed," said Putney.