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ASSOCIATED PRESS
This image made from video provided by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department shows Keith Scott on the ground as police approach him in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 20, 2016.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. >> Newly released police video of a black man’s fatal shooting, sought by protesters for days, isn’t settling questions about whether the man threatened police with a gun before he was felled by a black officer.
Police said Keith Lamont Scott had a gun, though residents have said he was unarmed. It’s not apparent in the video if he’s holding anything shortly before he was shot. The dramatic video released by Charlotte police shows officers with guns drawn surrounding the man just before the shooting.
In the dashboard camera video released Saturday night, Scott could be seen slowly backing away from his SUV with his hands down. Four shots are heard in quick succession, and he crumples to the ground mortally wounded.
After the police vehicle dashboard camera and police body-cam videos were released, a fifth day of protests against Scott’s fatal shooting was largely peaceful. Police blocked off downtown streets late into the night as they had throughout the day, allowing demonstrators to take over roadways without confrontations with vehicles.
Police also released photos on Saturday of what they said was a loaded handgun found at the scene, adding it bore Scott’s DNA and fingerprints. They also said Scott had marijuana.
Relatives and their attorney said their questions aren’t answered by the release of partial police video footage.
“There is no definitive evidence in this video as to whether or not there is an object in his hand, and if there is, what that object is,” said Justin Bamberg, an attorney for Scott’s family. “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. He’s passively stepping back.”
Ray Dotch, Scott’s brother-in-law, said some reporters had been looking into Scott’s background but added that background shouldn’t matter.
“What we know and what you should know about him is that he was an American citizen who deserved better,” he said.
The dashboard camera footage opens with a police car pulling up as two officers point their guns at Scott, who is inside the SUV with the doors closed and windows rolled up. Scott gets out and begins walking backward before shots are fired.
From a different angle, newly released police body camera footage shows an officer approach with his gun drawn and another officer already pointing his gun at Scott. When Scott comes into view, his hands are at his side and he’s standing beside his SUV. The body camera footage doesn’t show the moment shots are fired, and Scott is next seen on the ground.
Police Chief Kerr Putney said that Scott was “absolutely in possession of a handgun.”
Police officers didn’t break the law but the State Bureau of Investigation continues to pursue the case, he said.
“Officers are absolutely not being charged by me at this point, but again, there’s another investigation ongoing,” Putney said.
A police narrative released along with the video gives the most complete account yet by the agency of what brought Scott to police attention.
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.
The officers saw Scott rolling a marijuana cigar, or blunt, though they didn’t consider it a priority at first, it said. But then one of the officers saw him hold up a gun, the document states.
“Due to the combination of illegal drugs and the gun Mr. Scott had in his possession, officers decided to take enforcement action for public safety concerns,” the document said.
The narrative says Scott didn’t respond to repeated commands to drop his weapon.
Those commands aren’t heard in the body camera video, which doesn’t have audible sound until after the shooting. A separate video reportedly shot by Scott’s wife includes audio of police demanding that the man drop the weapon, and Rakeyia Scott insisting her husband doesn’t have one.
Before the release of the video, hundreds of people had peacefully massed outside at the Charlotte police department building on Saturday afternoon chanting the name “Keith Scott.” They also chanted, “No tapes, no peace” and raised signs including one reading “Stop Killing The Black People.”
Peaceful protests continued after the video release.
The city has been on edge ever since Scott’s shooting death. The demonstrations reached a violent crescendo on Wednesday before the National Guard was called in a day later to maintain order. Forty-four people were arrested after Wednesday’s protests, and one protester who was shot died at a hospital Thursday. City officials said police did not shoot 26-year-old Justin Carr, and a suspect was arrested.
The next two nights of protests were free of property damage and violence, with organizers stressing a message of peace at the end of the week.
Charlotte is the latest U.S. city to be shaken by protests and recriminations over the death of a black man at the hands of police, a list that includes Baltimore, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York and Ferguson, Missouri.
Did he have drugs in his system?
Did he have a gun and where was it?
Did he have drugs in his possesion?
Did he comply to the Police orders?
Did he have past criminal/violent actions against Police?
So many questions.
IMHO if he complied to Police orders like a normal law abiding citizen he would be alive.
Keonigohan – Nice try but you are missing the point.
As we have seen so many times, police are poorly trained in handling people who are special needs yet allowed to drive, may be deaf, may be under legal/illegal medication, who do not speak English as their primary language.
So many rookie officers suffer from “Disrespect for the law syndrome” who take it personal when someone does not instantly kow tow to the commands they yell at the top of their voice. Worse when multiple officers are all yelling conflicting commands. They are not trained in how to professionally deconflict the situation, immediately pull their guns, waiting for an excuse to fire.
So many times it is the rookie officer who creates the situation where they set themselves up with only one option, shoot to kill.
This is why national police standards are needed to weed out the 1% of people who have no business in Law Enforcement, train the others to be professional.
You missed the most important point…respect Police.
Doesn’t matter as if there was a picture with a gun in his hand these people would still not believe what was photographed. They’d say it was rigged and the photo photoshopped! It’s just as bad as not believing Hillary lied or that Bill never had relations with them women.
Officer that shot him was not a rookie, but one that appears to be assigned to a specialized unit, warrants section. They were looking for s specific person, victim was wrong guy.
“They are not trained in how to professionally deconflict the situation”
on the contrary, all police officers are trained to conduct their confrontations at the lowest levels of persuasion and force. rookies, the most recently trained by police academies, are more than capable of using the lowest levels of persuasion to accomplish the purposes of the confrontations.
however, when the subject of the confrontation suddenly escalates resistance by displaying a weapon, especially a firearm, police are trained to respond with the appropriate level of force necessary.
so many times it is the subject of the confrontation who displays a firearm and creates the situation where they set themselves up with only one option, to be shot by police until they stop.
Not sure how you could reach this opinion. First of all, many will have drugs in their system. It is before 7 and already I have one drug in my system. (Caffeine) What does having a gun have to do with anything? This is America where we have the second Amendment. Question should be what was he doing if he didn’t have a gun. Why are so many against the second amendment?
You left out a question for the police officer. How many people has this officer shot during his time as a police officer and were they all black?
Thought Koolaid.
Blame the Police…hope you don’t need one in the future.
Boots, Hilliary will drop the blacks and the Hispanics like a hot potato once she joins mainstream USA. She’ll have no use for them. Bill might ball one or two young ones on Epstein’s jet for good luck.
And the beauty part is I won’t have to deal with your malarkey.
Where was the hands up? The guy had a blunt in one hand and a gun in another. Look at the car. Pile of junk, windows up, AC probably doesn’t work, dark tint. Parked next to another fugitive?
Good luck tomorrow.
Good question, how many black people did this black officer shoot, cause he didn’t shoot any white guys, if he did, he would be lynched.
Per CNN under North Carolina law, Scott would have been prohibited from owning firearms or ammunition because he had been convicted of a violent felony. When he was 30, in 2003, a Bexar County, Texas, grand jury indicted him on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest with a vehicle after Scott allegedly shot a man the previous year. Scott pleaded no contest and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison after his 2005 conviction. Also, notwithstanding his arrest record as a felon, if he had a Traumatic Brain Injury as his wife claimed, shouldn’t TBI alone prohibit (at least using common sense) him from having a handgun in his possession?
etalavera – As we have seen in the news, state bureaucrats are kow towing to the NRA, lowering the standards for someone to own a gun. Even worse is lowered standards for a concealed gun permit. It is only going to get worse before it may get better.
“In Missouri, where lawmakers buckled to pressure from the national gun lobby and overrode the governor’s veto of a bill that not only demolishes the state’s permitting system but also lowers the legal standard for use of deadly force.”
Meantime expect more innocent people to die.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-perfect-storm-missouri-lawmakers-pass-a-dangerous-gun-bill/2016/09/23/b6311a1c-7fa7-11e6-8d0c-fb6c00c90481_story.html?utm_term=.fd4d9fa0b0bb
So you’re saying the NRA is at fault in this shooting, even though Scott was a felon who was prohibited by NC state law from possessing a firearm. Then you point to a completely unrelated case involving 2nd Amendment rights Missouri and cite an OPINION PIECE in WaPo as evidence. #LiberalLogic
Hay, if terrorists can have guns, why not a convicted felon who served his time? Problem with so called conservatives is that they really don’t support the second amendment.
Post your sources because you state nothing but complete and utter lies! NRA has NOT lowered any standards to own a gun.
If you want to point the finger at anyone lowering their standards, you should first point the finger at the ATF and their “Operation Fast and Furious” scandal where they secretly sold machine guns to Mexican drug gangs in the USA in order to increase the bloodshed and eventually have justification to stay in business as they had are another defunct Democrat big government cooked up scam to teal our tax dollars.
Source…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal