Update: Sunday's Vikings-Panthers game 'planning' to be played as scheduled, league says

The NFL announced Thursday it is "planning" to keep Sunday's Vikings-Panthers game in Charlotte as scheduled.

As protests and violence continue in North Carolina's largest city in the wake of a police shooting, NFL and government officials discussed the possibility of moving Sunday's game, a Charlotte TV station reported Thursday morning.

The league followed up later Thursday morning with a statement that read: "We are planning to play the game as scheduled on Sunday. We are monitoring events in Charlotte and have been in communication with local officials and authorities, and both the Carolina Panthers and the Minnesota Vikings."

The league's statement rebuffs reports Thursday morning that the game, scheduled for a noon Sunday kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in the heart of Charlotte, just blocks from where much of the violence Tuesday and Wednesday occurred, could be moved to an unnamed location. A Charlotte television station reported discussions about the time and location occurred.

The shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man, has sent the city into turmoil this week.

Police said Scott had a gun in his hand while getting out of a car and threatened police officers. Family members said Scott was disabled and was reading a book while waiting to pick up his son from the school bus.

Demonstrators have been protesting this week, and the violence escalated Tuesday and Wednesday. Over 20 people, including police and protesters, have been injured in the violence. Heavy damage was reported in the University City section of the city, and then later in the Uptown section of Charlotte, the popular nightlife and cultural center of the city.

In Baltimore last season, Major League Baseball postponed two Orioles-White Sox games and played a game without fans after protests in the city. The Orioles' next series against Tampa was then moved to Florida.

In 2010, the Vikings had two games postponed and one game moved, but all because of weather. A Dec. 12 game against the Giants was postponed for a day and moved to Detroit after the collapse of the Metrodome roof. The following week, the Vikings-Bears game was moved to TCF Bank Stadium because of the roof damage. And the next week, the Vikings-Eagles game was moved from Sunday to Tuesday because of a blizzard in Philadelphia.

More updates to come on this story at startribune.com.