Officers initially stopped Scott because he appeared to be in possession of marijuana – a photo of which was released by police – and say he was holding a gun.
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Scott’s family has already released two minutes of smartphone footage filmed by his wife, which does not show the shooting itself and does not conclusively answer the question of whether he was armed. Police said Scott had a gun, though residents have said he was unarmed. In the video, Mrs. Scott can be heard telling officers that her husband has TBI, a traumatic brain injury. Scott was shot after allegedly refusing to drop the gun.
The report also says forensic examination shows Scott’s DNA and fingerprints were on the loaded gun retrieved from the scene and that Scott was wearing an ankle holster.
The officers say they identified themselves as police and gave Scott orders to drop the gun, which he refused, according to the narrative. “He has no weapon” as they yell at Scott, “Drop the gun!”
Scott’s family lawyer Justin Bamberg told a news conference that despite the new videos, it was still impossible to “clearly identify what, if anything, is in his hand, and that has not changed”.
Those commands aren’t heard in the body camera video, which doesn’t have audible sound until after the shooting. Scott gets out and starts walking backward before shots are fired.
“As governor of North Carolina, I concur with the Charlotte police chief’s decision to release the tapes”.
From a different angle, police body camera footage shows an officer approach with his gun drawn and another officer already pointing his gun at Scott.
Both videos show Scott moving at a measured pace with his hands at his sides.
Unclear in the video: Whether Keith L. Scott was holding a gun.
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 the state’s independent probe of the shooting. “The footage only supports all the other information, physical evidence, the statements from witnesses and officers and all of the other information, scientific and physical, that create the whole picture”.
Police in Charlotte on Saturday released body and dashcam video recorded during officers’ fatal encounter with a 43-year-old man, along with photos and other evidence they say justifies the shooting.
The chief told reporters, “Officers are absolutely not being charged by me at this point”.
Neighbors have said there was no gun, but Chief Kerr Putney has been adamant the footage would back up his officers’ initial claims.
Before the release of the video, hundreds massed outside at the Charlotte police department building on Saturday afternoon chanting the name “Keith Scott”.
Putney said that officers saw marijuana and a weapon at which point they decided the situation posed “a safety issue for us and the public”. “Officer Vinson perceived Mr. Scott’s actions and movements as an imminent physical threat to himself and the other officers”.
At least five people who appear to be police officers are seen in the bodycam video.
“Our goal has from the beginning been to get the absolute unfiltered truth, and the only way to get that is for the police to release the videos that were released today”.
The next two nights of protests were free of property damage and violence, with organizers stressing a message of peace at the end of the week.
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The controversial death has made Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city and a financial center, the latest flashpoint in two years of tense protests over USA police killings of black men, a lot of them unarmed.
