The footage shows a black man leaving an SUV and “walking backward as he’s shot at four times”, the Associated Press reported.
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The officers say they identified themselves as police and gave Scott orders to drop the gun, which he refused, according to the narrative. The situation then escalated, and officers fired the fatal shots.
Earlier in the week, Putney said that police were not ready to protests-erupt-in-north-carolina-over-fatal-police-shooting-1788/”>release the video because doing so could compromise the investigation into the shooting.
Asked whether any officers would be charged, he said: “No officers are being charged by me at this point, but there is another investigation underway”.
Putney said the officers saw Scott with marijuana but were not interested in him until he brought out a gun.
The videos, recorded by an officer’s body camera and a dash-cam inside a police vehicle, offer new perspectives of the September 20 incident that sparked riots and protests in the North Carolina city. The officer is also black.
Putney said Saturday that now that he is certain releasing the video wouldn’t affect the investigation, he made a decision to do so because he felt that it was “in the community’s best interest”.
Demonstrations on Tuesday and Wednesday turned violent and destructive, with one person killed on Wednesday night.
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.
Mr Scott’s death is the latest in a string of police-involved killings of black men that have fuelled outrage across America. A suspect was arrested, but police provided few details.
On Thursday, Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency and deployed National Guard troops to the city, and Mayor Jennifer Roberts enacted a midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew.
Putney said he waited until now to release the police video because he needed reassurance from the SBI that it wouldn’t negatively impact their investigation.
City officials, community leaders and local clergy also planned to hold a 7 p.m. gathering at the Charlotte Mecklenberg Government Center, near Marshall Park, where protesters were meeting Saturday afternoon, the Charlotte Observer reported.
Police also released pictures including one of a handgun it says was recovered at the scene and an ankle holster police say Scott was wearing.
In the dashboard camera video released Saturday night, Scott could be seen slowly backing away from his SUV with his hands down, and it’s not apparent if he’s holding anything.
“My priority has been, throughout the whole investigative process, to maintain the integrity of the investigation, because that’s essential, that’s essential in a fact finding process that leads you to the truth”, said Chief Putney.
He said he had determined recently that releasing footage would have “no adverse impact on the investigation”.
“The footage will not prove anything true or not it, only can support the physical evidence”, he said, adding that new evidence as a whole would provide “the most complete puzzle” that police could offer.
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CMPDPolice in Charlotte have released footage from a body camera and a dashcam of the police shooting of Keith Scott last Tuesday. Previously, the victim’s wife Rakeiya Scott had released footage of the incident, where she was heard shouting that he was unarmed.
