Jordan expressed condolences to the family of Keith Scott, a 43-year-old African-American man who was killed by a black police officer, and to those injured in the ensuing protests in a statement Thursday. It’s unclear when or if the video might be released publicly.
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The Scott family has requested to see the footage and Putney said he was “working on honoring that request”.
A gun, or a book? And it’s at least possible that those videos might answer a sharply disputed question: What was Scott holding before he died?
The trouble came after a peaceful protest against the killing of Keith Scott, 43, who was gunned down in the auto park of a block of flats by a black officer on Tuesday.
The police video could be key to resolving the chasm between police, who say Scott refused repeated commands to drop his gun, and residents who say he was unarmed. Reporter Tom Bullock of member station WFAE went to the apartment complex and spoke with witnesses.
Video obtained and verified by The Associated Press, which was recorded right after the shooting, shows someone lying in a pool of blood as people scream and a voice yells for someone to call for help. It fell off his lap right there in the middle of the street.’.
Police confirmed early on that video footage of the shooting exists.
The city spent $7 million a year ago to equip patrol officers with body cameras.
Shootings have often been followed by protests calling for police reforms and justice for those killed by officers.
“The video doesn’t give me absolute, definitive, visual evidence that would confirm that a person is pointing a gun”, Chief Putney told a news conference.
The Hornets owner said, “In light of the tragic events of the past three days, it is more important than ever that we restore calm and come together, as a community, in peaceful demonstration and conversation, and in constructive and non-violent ways”.
But given the ongoing investigation and the possibility that a federal agency might eventually take over the process, he said he will not be releasing the footage to the public.
“I can tell you a weapon was seized, a handgun”, Putney said, “I can also tell you we did not find a book that has been made referenced to”. “Some people already made up their minds what happened”.
“Transparency’s in the eye of the beholder”, he said.
Officials initially said that the Wednesday victim was shot by a civilian, but on Thursday Putney acknowledged some claims he was shot by a law enforcement officer.
“My heart bleeds for what our great city is going through”, McCrory said on WBTV-TV.
“I don’t have a time frame”, she said. The department’s Community Relations Service has been deployed to other cities roiled by tense flare-ups between police and residents. Federal help also is on the way, with the Justice Department sending to Charlotte a team of trained peacekeepers created to help resolve community conflict. Meanwhile Mayor Jennifer Roberts said they were considering a curfew in the city.
But Crutcher’s family said video shows the window was closed and that he had his hands on the vehicle to show he had no gun.
Demonstrators arguing during protests in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The state passed a law this summer that excludes body cam and dashcam recordings from the state’s open records law, meaning that they’re not a matter of public record.
Scott’s wife, Rakeiya Scott, released a statement Wednesday night questioned statements put forward by law enforcement officials.
Nancy La Vigne, director of the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., told NPR that in one sense, the law is restrictive – but that some other states are even less transparent about how the public can access footage. The state has many additional assets nearby to assist.
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La Vigne led a study into state laws on police video footage.
