Cops say audio backs up officer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A police officer calls for backup, saying he has spotted a man with a gun and a marijuana joint in his SUV. In follow-up radio traffic, the officer says a suspect has been wounded and is lying on the ground.
The two snippets of audio the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department released yesterday along with a brief 911 call appeared to back up authorities’ assertion that officers believed Keith Lamont Scott had a gun. A black officer fatally shot Scott last week, sparking violent street protests and prompting the governor to call up National Guard troops, who were stationed on downtown streets.
In the roughly 20-second 911 call, a witness can be heard asking for paramedics, then says they are already arriving. “I can’t stand y’all sorry asses,” he remarks.
The three audio clips, totaling less than two minutes, were released amid growing public demands for more details about Scott’s death. Police on Saturday shared about three minutes of video capturing the Sept. 20 shooting.
Scott’s family has released a video taken by his wife, who was nearby.
In one of the new audio clips, which lasts about 25 seconds, an officer calls for police backup, saying he has spotted Scott with a gun and a joint. In a later 30-second clip, an officer says shots have been fired and a suspect is lying wounded on the ground.
Police have said officer Brentley Vinson, 26, shot Scott after he refused to drop a pistol as he exited a parked vehicle at an apartment complex where officers were on a stakeout, waiting to arrest someone else.