Video shows shooting of black man
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Charlotte police released video Saturday that shows officers surrounding a black man with his hands at his side before shots are fired and he buckles to the ground.
Keith Lamont Scott can be seen in police dashboard camera video backing away from his SUV with his hands down, and it’s unclear if there’s anything in the man’s hands. Four shots are heard, and he falls to the ground.
The video of the fatal shooting was released after several days of protests that have coalesced around demands that the public see the it.
Videos from the dashboard camera and the body camera also show the sequence of events leading up to the shooting.
The dashboard camera video starts with two officers pointing their guns at Scott, who is inside the SUV with the doors closed and windows rolled up. Scott gets out and starts walking backward before shots are fired.
From a different angle, 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, he has his hands at his side and is standing outside of his SUV. The body camera footage doesn’t show the moment the shots are fired, and Scott next comes into view already on the ground. Police also released photos of a handgun and marijuana that they said were in Scott’s possession.
Before releasing the videos, Police Chief Kerr Putney said at a news conference he was assured by the State Bureau of Investigation that letting the public see the video would not affect their independent probe of the shooting.