Before Putney’s announcement, protesters in Charlotte took to the streets, shouting: “Release the tape”. According to our sources on the ground in Charlotte, CMPD moved the press conference away from the crowd to Wilkinson Boulevard Police Station. It’s unclear if there’s anything in the man’s hands.
Advertisement
Authorities on Saturday released partial video of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department shooting of Keith L. Scott, a black father whose death during a police search for an unrelated suspect on September 20 spurred days of both peaceful protests and more violent disturbances as well as a subsequent state of emergency in the Charlotte metro area.
In one of the police videos, a dashboard-mounted camera from a squad auto showed Scott exiting his vehicle and then backing away from it. Police shout to him to drop a gun, but it is not clear that Scott is holding anything.
Officer Brentley Vinson, a black man, shot Scott while officers were trying to serve a warrant for another person. Police have since said that a handgun was recovered from the scene, but a book was not. Upon their return, they identified themselves as officers and warned Scott to drop the weapon, the CMPD said.
In a statement, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said two plainclothes officers were sitting in an an unmarked vehicle in the parking lot of The Village at College Downs, preparing to serve an arrest warrant when a white SUV pulled up next to them. “Don’t you fucking do it” moments before the shots were fired.
Both videos show Scott moving at a measured pace with his hands at his sides.
The Scott family have been shown the police video, but Putney, chief of police, was reluctant to release the footage, describing it as inconclusive and leaving more questions than answers. He was an American citizen who deserved better. “The footage only supports all of the other information” such as physical evidence and statements from witnesses and officers.
Before releasing the footage, Chief Kerr Putney said at a news conference that he received assurances from the State Bureau of Investigation that letting the public see the video would not impact their independent probe of the shooting. On Friday, Scott’s family released cellphone footage filmed by his wife. They were parked near Mr. Scott and saw that he had marijuana.
In Rakeyia Scott’s two-minute video, the actual moment her husband was shot was not shown, but she can be heard pleading with the armed officers not to shoot her husband and telling them her husband is unarmed.
Due to the combination of illegal drugs and the gun Mr. Scott had in his possession, officers chose to take enforcement action for public safety concerns.
“When you’re in possession of marijuana and in possession of a gun, that is a public safely issue”, Putney said. Mr. Scott refused to follow the officers repeated verbal commands. It did not show the shooting itself.
Authorities used tear gas to disperse protesters in an overnight demonstration that broke out Tuesday after Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot by an officer at an apartment complex. The footage being released shows visuals of what happened, though other footage will be released later, Putney said.
Still, it is not the first footage of Scott’s death to surface.
Justin Carr, 26, who was shot during protests Wednesday night, died of his injuries Thursday.
Advertisement
“We have appreciated the ongoing dialogue and teamwork”, McCrory said, “between state and city officials to seek public transparency while protecting the integrity of the investigation and the rights of all parties involved in this case”.
