Charlotte Cops to Release Videos of Keith Scott's Shooting Death
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Oct 3, 2016
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney told a news conference that the evidence shows Scott was in possession a handgun and marijuana during the confrontation with police. "If you look at the other photo, and you look at the shadow, there is a police officer standing to the right and his foot is. if you look at his left foot, there is something on the inside of his left foot".
On Friday, Charlotte-Mecklenberg police Chief Kerr Putney said he expected police videos of the shooting to be released eventually when investigators decide it can be done as part of a package with other information, so the videos aren't made public without context. "He has no weapon" as they yell at Scott, "Drop the gun!"
Chief Putney says Scott was "absolutely in possession of a handgun".
The gun police say they recovered from the scene was loaded, a source close to the investigation told CNN.
Footage obtained by NBC News shows the moments leading up to the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The cellphone video does not show whether Scott was brandishing a gun when he was being confronted by officers; however, his wife can be heard pleading with officers not to shoot him, and for her husband to get out of his vehicle.
The dashboard camera footage provided by authorities Saturday shows a patrol vehicle approaching the scene where one plainclothes officer, with his weapon drawn on Scott, is visible.
Several activist groups gathered to demonstrate in Charlotte Saturday afternoon, united by calls for government transparency and to urge change in light of recent police shootings nationwide of unarmed black men.
"One of the biggest questions", Bamberg said, "is do those actions, do those precious seconds, justify this shooting?"
She goes on to say: "Keith, don't let them break the windows; come on out the auto".
After the curfew took effect Friday, as on Thursday, police allowed the crowd of demonstrators to thin without forcing them off the street. Authorities said officers were at the complex looking for another man named in a warrant when Scott pulled up next to the vehicle two of them were in.
Putney said he has seen the video and it does not contain "absolute, definitive evidence that would confirm that a person was pointing a gun".
The two videos will be released by the end of Saturday. That includes footage from body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras, as well as physical evidence, according to Putney. "It's confusing 'cause you're hearing the wife say he doesn't have a gun, but then I hear her say, 'Keith, don't you do it, don't you do it'".
Friday night, protesters held signs saying "release the tapes".
Williams explains that Scott's body has been moved, so the officer likely took his trousers off to perform CPR, and that's why the gun appears to be in a different position. She continues recording and asks if an ambulance has been called.
Charlotte is the latest US city to be shaken by protests and recriminations over the death of a black man at the hands of police, a list that includes Baltimore, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York and Ferguson, Missouri.
Protesters, marching for a fourth night after an African-American man was shot to death by police on Tuesday, chant, "Hands up, don't shoot", as they walk, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Sept. 23, 2016.
Earlier in the week, the Charlotte protests turned violent, with demonstrators attacking reporters and others, setting fires and smashing windows of hotels, office buildings and restaurants. But Thursday, people marched through downtown in a largely peaceful protest.
"No matter how long it takes for us to be out here we will be out here". City officials said police did not shoot 26-year-old Justin Carr. "Officers departed the immediate area to outfit themselves with marked duty vests and equipment that would clearly identify them as police officers".
Governor Pat McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor, had earlier declared a state of emergency, and said police would arrest lawbreakers. "My understanding is that he did not own a gun, he did not habitually carry a gun", Bamberg said.