There’s been a picture released of what they say might be that gun.
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The family of Keith Lamont Scott has releaased cell phone video, recorded by his wife, that shows the moments leading to his fatal shooting by police Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined the chorus of those demanding the video’s release when she tweeted Friday that “Charlotte should release police video of the Keith Lamont Scott shooting without delay”. Uncertainty about the case prompted a fourth night of demonstrations through Charlotte’s business district. Police said they recovered a gun at the scene in Charlotte.
The video, which is graphic and features strong language, doesn’t show the shooting itself.
The smartphone footage filmed by his wife Rakeyia Scott, released by her lawyers to media including AFP, will add to mounting pressure on Charlotte authorities to make the video public.
“Keith, don’t let them break the windows!”
As the encounter escalates, she repeatedly tell the officers: “You better not shoot him”.
SCOTT: “Keith, get out the auto”.
Scott continued to record after her husband was shot. The officers stand over Scott. “He has no weapon – don’t shoot him!”
Scott is seen on the ground moments after the shots were fired and surrounded by officers.
See below to watch the full, unedited video of the incident.
The video emerged hours before the protesters took to the streets Friday night, monitored by rifle-toting members of the National Guard. Marchers at the front of the group carried a banner that said “Just Release the Tapes”. The family made a decision to release the cell phone video one day after viewing other footage from Charlotte police that officials have not released publicly.
As depicted in the eyewitness video, the scene plays out under bright sunlight, from a vantage point that’s a short distance from the confrontation between Keith Lamont Scott and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers that began in the tree-lined parking lot where Scott reportedly had a habit of sitting in a vehicle to wait for his son to get off the bus from school.
The Scott family said it released the video in the “name of truth and transparency”, according to a statement released by attorney Charles G. Monnett.
This differed from his message a day earlier, when he said the public shouldn’t expect the videos’ release. Cooper, a Democrat, is running for governor in November. Major Gerald Smith of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department told Reuters police would not enforce the curfew if protests remained peaceful. The family says he was not armed and did not pose a threat to the officers.
Largely peaceful protests dwindled early on Friday in Charlotte as police chose not to enforce a curfew prompted by two nights of riots after a black man was shot to death by a police officer.
OFFICER: Is everybody good? “All three videos I’ve seen are inconclusive”, she said on CNN. That could decrease the likelihood that the police bodycam and dashcam videos of the shooting will be released to the public.
“It’s a personal struggle, but I have to do what I think is best for my community”, Putney said. He told reporters on Friday that releasing it now could harm the investigation into the shooting, being led by the state.
Nine people were injured and 44 arrested on Wednesday and Thursday morning in Charlotte.
Cops announced that Justin Carr, 26, who was shot on Wednesday night died in hospital. A suspect was arrested, but police provided few details.
“[The video] did not give me absolute, definitive visual evidence that a person was pointing a gun”, Putney said. An attorney for his family, who viewed the video Thursday, said it’s not clear from the video if he’s holding anything, including a gun.
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In the clip, an officer is heard shouting: “Hands up!”
