Four shots are heard, and he falls to the ground. It is among a number of shootings in recent years that have spurred debate about how and when police should use deadly force.
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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.
However, none of the footage shows Scott pointing a gun at police officers.
A short time later, police said, an officer saw Scott hold up a gun.
“Unfortunately, we are left with far more questions than we have answers”, Ray Dotch, the brother of Scott’s wife, told a press conference. “He was an American citizen who deserved better”, he said. Amid anxiety and unease over the shooting of Scott, demonstrations in Charlotte have gone from violent to peaceful, although demands to see video of the encounter remained at the forefront of discussions for those taking to the streets.
The man gunned down by Charlotte cops never raised his hands before being shot, police video shows.
The audio of the new footage clearly has cops repeatedly shouting, “Drop the gun!” as they surrounded Scott’s SUV. It is not clear if there is anything in his hands as he backs away from his SUV before being shot.
The chief cautioned that the police footage alone is “insufficient” to determine whether there was wrongdoing by officers, though he maintained that Scott was armed when he was shot.
Charlotte police also released a narrative of what they say happened in the moments leading up to the fatal shooting of Scott.
The law passed by the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature runs counter to a nationwide trend in which some cities are trying to show greater transparency by releasing videos soon after a shooting. The crowd stopped at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police headquarters and chanted: “No tapes; no peace”. Putney said officers were trying to serve a warrant on someone else, but their attention was drawn to Scott.
“I stated throughout the process that I was unwilling to deviate from that stance”, Putney said.
“[When officers] see the weapon, and they see the marijuana, they say, “Oh-oh, this is a safety issue for us and the public”, Mr Putney said.
The Associated Press reports that the Scott family released the video “as part of their quest for truth”. Scott’s wife, Rakeyia Scott, released her own shaky cell phone video of the shooting Friday.
The footage along with the photos of a pistol and ankle holster recovered at the scene was released by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.
On Wednesday night, uptown storefronts were damaged, and a protester who was shot died the next day.
Mr Scott’s death is the latest in a string of police-involved killings of black men that have fuelled outrage across America. It’s not apparent if he’s holding anything. The police chief insisted Scott had a gun.
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He suggested Scott made a bad decision which led to his death.
