Charlotte Victim's Mother Says He Loved Reading Quran

TEHRAN (IQNA) – The mother of Keith Scott says her 43-year-old son was reading his Quran in the parking lot of a Charlotte, North Carolina, apartment complex when he was shot dead by a police officer Tuesday.

Scott's killing was followed by violent riots and bouts of looting that engulfed the city, leaving one protester dead, nine injured and 44 others arrested.

Police in Charlotte have said that Scott was shot after he refused orders to drop a gun he was holding, but the man's family said the item he was holding was a book, not a firearm.

In an interview with the station WCSC Thursday night, Scott's mother, Vernita Scott Walker, said the book her son was reading in his truck was the Quran, which he used to do every day while waiting to pick up his son from school.

'He loved to read that book,' Mrs Walker said of the holy text of Islam.

Scott's mother also revealed that just before a black police officer shot him, the 43-year-old dialed his mother's number one last time.

The call from Keith Scott came in at 2.22pm Tuesday and went to voicemail, which consisted of noises and the man apparently stating his middle name, 'Lamont.'

'And he done got shot. And he called me, yes, he did, he called me,' Walker said. 'He just wanted me to know that it was him.'

The woman only learned of her son's death later, when she turned on one of the news channels on TV, the Daily Mail reported.

Vernita Scott Walker said she got another call from Keith earlier on the day of the shooting.

'I said, "I love you, son," and he said, "I love you, mama," and that's the first time he ever said it like that,' she recalled.