The dashboard camera Newly released police video of a black man’s fatal shooting, which protesters had demanded for days, isn’t settling questions about whether the man threatened police with a gun before he was felled by a black officer in one of North Carolina’s biggest cities.
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Police said they had recovered a loaded gun with Scott’s DNA on it, and that he wore an ankle holster.
The CMPD said police officers at the scene saw marijuana and a weapon inside Scott’s vehicle and that Vinson opened fire after Scott refused to obey police commands to drop a handgun.
In one of the police videos, a dashboard-mounted camera from a squad auto showed Scott exiting his vehicle and then backing away from it. Police shout to him to drop a gun, but it is not clear that Scott is holding anything.
However, none of the footage shows Scott pointing a gun at police officers. It briefly shows Scott standing outside his vehicle before he is shot, but it is not clear whether he has something in his hand.
Charlotte police released dramatic video Saturday that shows officers with guns drawn surrounding a black man with his hands at his side before shots are fired and he buckles and falls. Previously, the victim’s wife Rakeiya Scott had released footage of the incident, where she was heard shouting that he was unarmed.
Because our analyst says if Scott has a gun in his right hand – and that’s what’s not clear – then the officers were obviously in danger.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney released the videos earlier Saturday.
“There is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand”, Putney said.
“Officers are absolutely not being charged by me, but again, there’s another investigation ongoing”, he said. “But what we do see is compelling evidence that, when you put all the pieces together, supports that”, Putney said.
While they do not show everything that happened at the scene, the two released videos appear to show Scott exiting a white SUV, and backing away from it with his hands at his sides.
Unlike Saturday night, some of the demonstrations over the past week have become violent and disorderly, with protesters looting and vandalizing businesses. “They see the gun and they think they need to”, Putney said.
Attorneys for the family say Scott looks to be complying with police.
Mr Putney said Mr Scott was “absolutely in possession of a handgun”.
One of the lawyers, Justin Bamberg, said the family stood by its assertion that Scott was not armed and that he never acted in a threatening manner. The body camera footage doesn’t show the moment the shots are fired, and Scott next comes into view already on the ground.
The footage, taken from a dashboard camera in the police auto and another worn by an officer, was released after an outpouring by hundreds demanding the public see the video.
Peaceful protests continued after the video release. “But what we do know is that the moment Mr. Scott is shot, it appears as though he’s not aggressively moving toward law enforcement; he’s actually doing the opposite”. The demonstrations reached a violent crescendo Wednesday before the National Guard was called in a day later to maintain order.
On Saturday, demonstrators changed, “No tapes, no peace” and raised signs including one reading “Stop Killing The Black People”.
The city has been on edge since Scott’s shooting death.
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.
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Forty-four people were arrested after Wednesday’s protests, and one protester who was shot died at a hospital Thursday.
