It is unclear from the footage whether Keith Lamont Scott – the victim – was holding a gun or not, that prompted the police to fire at him.
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In one of the videos, a dashboard-mounted camera from a police auto showed Scott exiting his vehicle and then backing away from it. Police shout to him to drop the gun, but it is not clear that Scott is holding anything. The officer then moves and Scott is out of view until he is seen on the ground. Police also shared photos of an ankle holster and of the blunt that first made them aware of Scott’s presence.
Neither dashboard nor body camera footage shows Scott pointing a gun at police officers. The protesters ran, but one fell in front of an all-terrain vehicle operated by a Greensboro police officer helping the Charlotte force, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said.
The patrol approaches the scene where an officer already has his weapon drawn on Scott.
Both videos show Scott moving at a measured pace with his hands at his sides.
In another released video, a camera worn by a uniformed Charlotte police officer shows him running up to the encounter between other officers and Scott.
One of the lawyers, Justin Bamberg, said the family stood by its assertion that Mr Scott was not armed and that he never acted in a threatening manner.
The shooting on Tuesday of Keith Scott, a 43-year-old father of seven, was the latest in a series of deadly police encounters across the country in recent years that has raised questions about the use of force by US law enforcement against African-Americans and other minorities.
Dotch said that the questions about Scott’s character “shouldn’t be the issue”, because “what we know is that he was an American citizen who deserved better”.
Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney said the cell phone recording didn’t factor into his decision to release dashcam and body-camera video of the fatal shooting.
He described the police videos as supporting other evidence, rather than being standalone proof.
“Officers are absolutely not being charged by me at this point, but again, there’s another investigation ongoing”, Putney said. “But what I say is, you have to put all pieces together”, he said.
The police news conference came as demonstrators on Saturday mounted a fifth day of protests.
Two plainclothes officers in an unmarked vehicle were preparing to serve a warrant on someone else when Scott pulled up and parked next to them, according to the document. Moments later, another officer joins the first officer behind a truck. Those witnesses confirmed that officers gave numerous loud verbal commands for Mr. Scott to drop the weapon and also confirmed that at no time did Mr. Scott comply with their commands.
Putney said before releasing the footage that the videos themselves were “insufficient” to prove that Scott held a gun.
The shooting of Scott was the latest in a series of deadly police encounters across the country in recent years that has raised questions about the use of force by United States law enforcement against African-Americans and other minorities.
Several demonstrators demanded that police “release the whole video” of the shooting of the 43-year-old black man. Protesters refused to leave areas despite police saying they would be arrested if they did not disperse.
Numerous hundreds massed outside at the Charlotte police department building Saturday afternoon chanted the name “Keith Scott”.
Charlotte has been on edge ever since Scott’s death.
Forty-four people were arrested after Wednesday’s protests and one protester who was shot died in hospital on Thursday.
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The next three nights of protests were free of property damage and violence, with organizers stressing a message of peace at the end of the week.
