In response to the release of police videos, Justin Bamberg, attorney for Scott’s family, told a news conference Saturday evening that he did not see anything in the videos that would lead to the loss of Scott’s life. It’s unclear if there’s anything in Scott’s hands.
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The footage of the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott was released after several days of demonstrations that coalesced around demands that the public see the video. Neighbors have said there was no gun, but Chief Kerr Putney has been adamant the footage would back up his officers’ initial claims.
Charlotte police have released footage of the shooting death of a black man during an encounter with officers in the state of North Carolina.
From a different angle, the dashboard camera video shows two officers pointing their guns at Scott, who is inside an SUV with the doors closed and windows rolled up. Authorities on Saturday released photographs of a handgun and a holster they said was recovered from the scene.
Putney reemphasized Saturday that Scott had a handgun and added that he was also in possession of marijuana.
The statement added that the gun was “loaded” and was found to contain Scott’s DNA and fingerprints. Analyst M. Quentin Williams, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who literally wrote a book titled, “How Not to Get Killed by a Police Officer”, went frame by frame on the videos with NBC Charlotte. The officers left and returned in vests and equipment that identified them as cops, the police said.
The patrol approaches the scene where an officer already has his weapon drawn on Scott. When Mr Scott comes into view, his hands are at his side and he is standing beside his SUV. “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”.
The CMPD chief, Kerr Putney, earlier green-lighted the release saying it will not hamper the ongoing investigation into the incident.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -Charlotte police released body camera and dashboard videos on Saturday, Sept. 24, showing the fatal shooting of a black man that triggered protests in the North Carolina city, but the footage did not show whether the victim was holding a gun.
The officers saw Scott rolling a marijuana cigar, or blunt, though they didn’t consider it a priority at first, it said.
Officers say that they were not anxious about the drugs until they spotted Mr Scott’s gun but after an officer “observed Mr Scott hold a gun up”, they put on marked vests to identify themselves as police, they said.
“What we see when we look at this dash-cam video is that Mr. Scott steps out of the vehicle”.
A uniformed officer then tried to break the window on Mr Scott’s SUV using a baton.
Chief among protesters’ demands has been the public release of dashcam and body camera video of the shooting.
The September 20 shooting of Keith Lamont Scott has caused several nights of unrest in the southern U.S. city where various residents have called for the police to hand over the footage. The demonstrations reached a violent crescendo on Wednesday before the National Guard was called in a day later to maintain order.
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.
The fatal shooting has turned Charlotte into the latest United States city to face tough questioning about the treatment of minorities by police.
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Forty-four people were arrested after Wednesday’s protests and one protester who was shot died in hospital on Thursday.
