Charlotte police have released videos of the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott
Scott family handout via Reuters
The police department in Charlotte, North Carolina, released two videos on Saturday of the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.
One video, taken from one of the officer’s body cameras, shows police trying to access the SUV Scott is sitting in. The shooting itself isn't seen in that footage.
In another video shot from a dashboard camera, an officer can be seen firing as Scott backs away after exiting his car. It is unclear in either video whether Scott is carrying or pointing a gun.
Police had previously said they wouldn't immediately release the footage, citing the need to protect the integrity of the investigation.
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.
In a press conference on Saturday, Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney said he made the decision to release the footage when he received assurance from the agency that doing so would not adversely impact its investigation.
Putney told media the video doesn't definitively show Scott pointing a gun when officers fatally shot him, but he said Scott was "absolutely in possession of a handgun" as well as marijuana when officers approached him. He said police had a "compelling" reason to approach Scott, and no officers will be charged in the shooting at this point.
"There was a crime that he had committed that caused that encounter, and then the gun exacerbated that situation," Putney said. "They were reacting to what they saw, and they have a duty to do so. They received an imminent threat."
But attorneys for Scott's family pushed back against the police department's narrative Saturday evening, telling reporters that the combination of marijuana and a gun should not have constituted the type of "active aggression" that allegedly justified the shooting.
"When I look at the dashcam footage, I don't see anything there, in my opinion that would lead to him losing his life," attorney Justin Bamberg said.
Warning: The video footage below is graphic
The police department also released photos of a handgun, a holster, and a marijuana blunt. A "case update" also provided by police outlined the sequence of events they say led to the shooting. According to the department, officers decided to arrest Scott after observing him both with a marijuana blunt and holding a gun as he sat in his car.
When officers identified themselves to Scott and told him repeatedly to drop his weapon, Scott refused to comply, the update said. Officer Brentley Vinson interpreted Scott's movements as "an imminent physical threat to himself and the officers," and began firing.
Scott family handout via Reuters
Scott family handout via Reuters
A cellphone video taken by Scott's wife, Rakeyia, was released Friday. It showed the moments before and after the shooting, but not the shooting itself.
In that video, Rakeyia can be heard repeatedly telling officers, "He has no weapon," and the officers can be heard repeatedly saying to Scott, "Drop the gun."
Scott's shooting on Tuesday set off several nights of unrest in Charlotte. Violent protests on Tuesday and Wednesday night prompted Gov. Pat McCrory to declare a state of emergency and the city to set a midnight curfew. Demonstrations continued Thursday and Friday evening, but remained mostly calm.