Family releases gun death video
CHARLOTTE: The family of the African-American man whose death has triggered days of unrest in Charlotte, North Carolina has released dramatic video of the police shooting, raising pressure on authorities to make their own footage public.
Police have refused to release body-cam and dash-cam video of Tuesday’s shooting, which they say shows that Keith Lamont Scott posed a threat.
His death is the latest in a string of police-involved killings of black men that have fuelled outrage across America.
North Carolina’s governor declared a state of emergency in the southern US city after it was rocked by violence.
Mr Scott was shot and killed at a Charlotte apartment complex during an encounter with police searching for another person wanted for arrest.
Police say he had a handgun. His family says he was holding a book. The two-minute smartphone footage filmed by Rakeyia Scott and released by her lawyers does not show the shooting itself – and does not conclusively answer the question of whether he was armed – but captures the moments surrounding it as she pleads with officers not to open fire.
It is also unclear whether police, a short distance away, could hear her speaking to them.
“Don’t shoot him, he has no weapon!” she is heard saying.
“He has a TBI, he’s not going to do anything to you guys,” she says, presumably referring to a traumatic brain injury.
As Rakeyia Scott records, police are heard yelling “Drop the gun! Drop the gun!” “Don’t let them break the windows. Come on out the car,” she shouts to her husband.
Four quick gunshots are heard, at which point the phone is pointing away from the shooting.