Family: Charlotte shooting video raises questions
‘ No definitive, visual evidence’ of a gun, police chief says
Despite the release of police CHARLOTTE video footage in the fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, the man’s family said the images leave many questions unanswered.
“It does not make sense to us how this incident resulted in the loss of life ... and it’s not clear in the videos that were released,” said Ray Dotch, Scott’s brotherinlaw.
Dotch said the family was “delighted” the videos were released but said, “unfortunately, we are left with far more questions than we have answers.”
Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney said there “is no definitive, visual evidence” that Scott had a gun in his hand before Tuesday’s shooting. “You see something in the hand and that he pointed it at an officer,” Putney said. The department has said officers perceived Scott’s movements as posing an imminent threat.
The shooting has inflamed tensions across the city, and extra security was in place for Sunday’s Carolina Panthers game.
About 100 protesters gathered outside Bank of America Stadium before the kickoff at 1 p. m.
“We want to let people know that there’s more going on on a Sunday than a Panthers game,” said Ashley Williams of Charlotte’s Trans Queer People of Color Collective. Williams said she and others are angry that the released police videos appeared incomplete, and some portions contained no audio.
“We didn’t know in our demands that we would have to demand all the footage and tell them not to edit it, and we’d have to ask for sound,” Williams said.
The dashboard camera video from an arriving police car, released Saturday by Charlotte’s police chief, shows officers surrounding Scott’s car. Scott exits and steps away from the car, his hands at his side, as officers repeatedly yell, “Drop the gun.”
A few seconds later, shots are fired, and Scott falls to the ground. Officers surround Scott out of dashboard- camera range.
The body cam video, also released by police, shows an officer circling Scott’s car. The picture shows Scott on the ground as an officer yells for handcuffs. Scott’s handcuffed hands are bloody, and moaning can be heard.
An officer asks for medical equipment and says, “We need to hold the wound.” The video then stops.
The police report of the incident states that two plainclothes officers were sitting in their unmarked police car, preparing to serve an arrest warrant, when Scott pulled up in his white SUV.
The officers said Scott rolled what they believed to be a marijuana “blunt.” A short time later, an officer reportedly saw Scott hold a gun up.
“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 report states. Officers departed “to outfit themselves with marked duty vests and equipment that would clearly identify them as police officers.”
Upon returning, the officers again witnessed Scott in possession of a gun, the report says.
“The officers immediately identified themselves as police officers and gave clear, loud and repeated verbal commands to drop the gun. Mr. Scott refused to follow the officers’ repeated verbal commands,” the report states.
Scott exited, “while continuing to ignore officers’ repeated loud verbal commands to drop the gun,” according to the report.
Justin Bamberg, a lawyer for the Scott family, noted there was no “definitive evidence” of Scott holding a gun. “He’s not aggressively-moving toward law enforcement officers,” he said. “He’s passively stepping back.”