It’s unclear if there’s anything in Scott’s hands. He also said that Keith Lamont Scott’s delay in getting out of his vehicle doesn’t justify his death.
Advertisement
Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot by police after they said he was carrying a firearm and drugs on him at the time of confrontation.
The shooting of Scott on Tuesday has prompted several days of demonstrations that coalesced around protesters’ demands that police video be seen by the public. Four shots are heard in quick succession, and he crumples to the ground mortally wounded.
Putney’s move came on the fifth day of demonstrations following Tuesday’s shooting of Scott, 43, by Officer Brentley Vinson. Officers have said Scott pointed a gun at them, and on Saturday they released photographs of a weapon they said was recovered from the scene. They said the gun was loaded and Scott was wearing an ankle holster.
“They look in the vehicle, they see the marijuana, they don’t act”.
A separate video reportedly shot by Scott’s wife includes audio of police demanding that the man drop the weapon, and Rakeyia Scott insisting her husband doesn’t have one.
Almost a week of protests over the police killing of a black man in Charlotte, North Carolina showed no signs of abating on Sunday, after police released videos showing the victim being shot but did not answer the question of whether he had a gun.
Scott gets out, starts walking backward, and then four shots ring out.
Putney said that Scott was “absolutely in possession of a handgun”.
From a different angle, police body camera footage shows an officer approach the white SUV with his gun drawn and another officer already pointing his gun at Scott. When Mr Scott comes into view, his hands are at his side and he is standing beside his SUV.
Before releasing the footage, police chief Kerr Putney said he received assurances from the State Bureau of Investigation that making it public would not affect the state’s independent probe of the shooting.
“The footage itself will not create in anyone’s mind absolutely certainty as to what this case represents and what the outcome should be”, Putney said.
Putney said that his officers didn’t break the law but noted that the state is continuing its investigation.
The Scott family agrees there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle to understand what happened and they are still questioning why Keith Scott had to die.
“As governor of North Carolina, I concur with the Charlotte police chief’s decision to release the tapes”.
According to a statement by officer Vinson, Mr Scott’s actions were seen as an “imminent physical threat”.
“There is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand, you can see something in the hand, and that he pointed it at an officer”.
“It does not make sense to us how it was possible that this incident resulted in the loss of life”, Ray Dotch, Scott’s brother-in-law said.
A protesters greets national guard soldiers during a march through the streets to protest the police shooting of Keith Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., September 24, 2016.
A police narrative released along with the video gives the most complete account yet by the agency of what brought Scott to police attention.
Advertisement
One sign read “Stop police brutality” and another showed a picture of a bloody handprint with the phrase #AMINEXT, a social media tag about the fear of becoming a victim of police.
