CHARLOTTE, United States (AFP) — Hundreds of National Guard troops and police reinforcements were on the ground in Charlotte yesterday to help keep the peace, officials said, after a second night of violent protests over the police shooting of a black man.

The tense southern city was placed under a state of emergency amid growing complaints that authorities had been too slow to respond to the hundreds of protesters who took to the streets after Tuesday’s shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old African American.

One person was shot and seriously wounded and 44 were arrested as protests swept through downtown Charlotte late Wednesday and early yesterday, triggered by the latest in a string of police-involved killings of black men that have fuelled outrage across the United States.

In all, nine protesters and two officers were injured as clashes broke out with tear-gas-firing riot police, shutting down a transport hub in the city, officials said.

North Carolina’s governor declared a state of emergency in Charlotte, activating the national guard and state highway police to reinforce the city’s police force.

Charlotte police chief Kerr Putney said several hundred additional guard and troops have been deployed to protect city infrastructure and businesses.

“We are going to be a lot more proactive,” he told a news conference. “We made 44 arrests last night because we are not going to tolerate the behaviour.”

Mayor Jennifer Roberts said earlier that a curfew was under consideration, but Putney said he did not intend to impose one unless “we need to clear the streets sooner”.

“Right now, we don’t see the need to shut the city down at a specific hour,” he told a news conference.

Scott was shot dead in an apartment complex parking lot on Tuesday during an encounter with police officers searching for another person wanted for arrest.

Conflicting versions of what happened — police say Scott was armed with a handgun while his family says he was holding a book, not a gun — fuelled the angry protests.

“It’s a lie,” said Taheshia Williams, whose daughter attends school with the victim’s son. “They took the book and replaced it with a gun.”

The authorities have so far refused to release body and dash cam video of the incident, although Putney said police were prepared to show the video to the family.

He said the footage “does not give me absolute definitive visual evidence that would confirm that a person is pointing a gun”.