VIDEO: Charlotte Chief Says Suspect Given Multiple Warnings to Drop Weapon Before Fatal OIS

Kerr Putney, chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, said at a press conference Wednesday morning that Keith Lamont Scott, 43, had a gun in his hand when he was shot by police officers and that he was warned multiple times to drop the weapon.

A family member has claimed he was unarmed and reading a book when officers first approached him.

“I can tell you a weapon was seized,” Putney said. “I can tell you we did not find a book.”

Putney said there is video of the incident, but he had not viewed all of it, and was basing his assessment on witness and police statements.

On Tuesday, Putney said officers were executing a search for a man with outstanding warrants when they witnessed Scott get into a car with a handgun. Scott was not the man they were looking for, but police engaged him when he then got out of and back into the car with the gun, Putney said.

Officers approached Scott and gave him multiple warnings to drop the weapon, Putney said. Scott then attempted to get out of the vehicle with the gun in his hand, which is when he was shot. Both officer and subject are African American.

“It’s time to change the narrative,” Putney said Wednesday. “The story is a little bit different than it’s been portrayed so far,” CBS News reports.

Scott's family members have said on social media that the man was unarmed and reading a book when he was shot.

In rioting Tuesday night and Wednesday morning 16 CMPD officers were injured, police vehicles were destroyed, Interstate 85 was blocked and the cargo of a truck was burned on the highway, and a Walmart was looted.