Charlotte police try to quell anger over shooting of black man

Authorities in North Carolina are trying to quell public anger after a night of looting and arson added Charlotte to the list of US cities that have erupted in violence over the death of a black man at the hands of police.

With officials refusing to release any video of the shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott, two starkly different versions emerged: Police say Scott disregarded repeated demands to drop his gun, while neighbourhood residents say he was holding a book, not a weapon, as he waited for his son to get off the school bus.

The killing inflamed racial tensions in a city that seemed to have steered clear of the troubles that engulfed other places.

As Charlotte's white mayor and black police chief stood at City Hall and appealed for calm, African-American leaders who said they were speaking for Scott's family held their own news conference near where he was killed on Tuesday, reminding the crowd of other shootings and abuses of black men.

John Barnett, who runs a civil rights group called True Healing Under God, or THUG, warned that the video might be the only way for the police to regain the community's trust.

He said: "Just telling us this is still under investigation is not good enough for the windows of the Wal-Mart."

On Tuesday night, a protest near the apartment complex where the shooting took place turned violent.