Police in Charlotte, N. Carolina, fatally shoot man they say was armed
Sept 20 (Reuters) - Police officers in Charlotte, North Carolina, fatally shot a man on Tuesday after he got out of his car armed with a gun as police approached him, authorities said.
Officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were at an apartment complex searching for a suspect with an outstanding warrant shortly before 4 p.m. when they saw a man get out of his vehicle with a firearm, public affairs officer Keith Trietley said in a written statement.
"Officers observed the subject get back into the vehicle at which time they began to approach the subject. The subject got back out of the vehicle armed with a firearm and posed an imminent deadly threat to the officers who subsequently fired their weapon striking the subject," Trietley said.
The victim, who was not immediately identified, was transported to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he was pronounced dead, according to Trietley.
The shooting occurred amid what has become an intense national debate over the use of deadly force by police.
It was not immediately clear from the police statement if the man killed by officers was the suspect they were originally seeking. The police could not be reached immediately for further comment.
Police recovered the gun that the subject was holding at the time of the shooting, and witnesses of the incident are being interviewed, Trietley said in the statement.
He said the department's internal affairs bureau would conduct a separate investigation, which was standard procedure, and that the officers would be placed on administrative leave. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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