Numerous hundreds massed outside at the Charlotte police department building Saturday afternoon chanted the name “Keith Scott”.
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Activists attempt to make their way onto Interstate 277 to block traffic as they march in the streets September 22, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C., to protest the death of Keith Lamont Scott.
Police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in CharlotteDashcam footage shows a black man exiting SUV, walking backward as he’s shot at four times by Charlotte police.
About a half-dozen gunshots can be heard in the video released to U.S. media, followed by her scream: “Did you shoot him?”
The family of Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shown the footage Thursday of his fatal shooting and demanded that police release it to the public. Family members and others have said Scott was unarmed when shot. That includes the videos, which should be released by about 5:15 p.m.
The police also released photos of the gun and marijuana Scott had on him at the time.
Putney reemphasised Saturday that Scott had a handgun and added that he was also in possession of marijuana.
Scott, who was sitting in a parked vehicle when confronted by police, was shot by Officer Brentley Vinson, who has been placed on paid administrative leave.
The statement professed to justify the shots fired by Scott “refusing” to follow “clear, loud and repeated verbal commands to drop the gun”.
Police had previously said they wouldn’t immediately release the footage, citing the need to protect the integrity of the investigation. The officer then moves and Scott is out of view until he is seen on the ground. An officer opens fire, and the video ends with Rakeyia Scott swearing that “he better not be f–ing dead” as she sees her husband’s body on the ground. The video does not show Scott being shot but offers “another vantage point” in the moments leading up to the shooting outside a Charlotte apartment complex, according to the family’s attorney. “My understanding is that he did not own a gun, he did not habitually carry a gun”, Bamberg said.
Responding to coverage questioning Scott’s criminal past, his brother-in-law Ray Dotch said, “We shouldn’t have to humanize him in order for him to be treated fairly”.
As the encounter escalates, she repeatedly urges police: “You better not shoot him”.
“The footage itself will not create in anyone’s mind absolute certainty as to what this case represents and what the outcome should be”, Putney said.
But on Friday, North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation, which had taken over an inquiry into the shooting, said the city was free to release the video.
“What I can tell you is there’s no single piece of evidence that provides all the complexities involved in this investigative process relative to this case”, he said.
A police narrative released along with the video gives the most complete account yet of what brought Scott to police attention. According to the department, officers made a decision to arrest Scott after observing him both with a marijuana blunt and holding a gun as he sat in his auto. He said it was impossible to see whether Scott was holding a weapon – or anything else – in his hands.
As she films, an officer can be heard repeatedly saying: “Drop the gun”.
“Due to the combination of illegal drugs and the gun Mr. Scott had in his possession, officers chose to take enforcement action for public safety concerns”, the document said. But some in Scott’s family insisted he didn’t have a weapon.
A lawyer for the family added: “There’s nothing in that video that shows him acting aggressively, threatening or maybe unsafe”.
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The footage was released on Saturday after several days of demonstrations that have coalesced around demands that the public see the video.
