Charlotte police release videos from shooting of Keith Lamont Scott
Sep 24, 2016, 4:18 PM | Updated: 4:42 pm
(Screenshot)
(Screenshot)
Following Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney’s announcement Saturday that they would release a video from a body camera and a dashcam video, the police department did just that.
Charlotte police officers shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott on Tuesday, but no videos had been released from authorities.
The family of the North Carolina 43-year-old black man who was killed released their own video of the incident on Friday.
The videos (WARNING: VIDEOS CONTAIN DISTURBING IMAGES) show different things, as the dashcam video shows officers shooting Scott, while the bodycam video doesn’t show much of the shooting itself, but shows officers trying to handcuff Scott when he is on the ground. Scott can be heard groaning in pain while they try to handcuff him.
Putney said at his press conference that the videos and other evidence they were releasing would corroborate their account of how things unfolded, including that Scott was holding a gun when he was shot. He added that he decided to release the footage after receiving assurances from the State Bureau of Investigation that it would not impact their independent probe of the shooting.
Asked whether he expected the footage to calm protesters, Putney responded: “The footage itself will not create in anyone’s mind absolute certainty as to what this case represents and what the outcome should be. The footage only supports all of the other information” such as physical evidence and statements from witnesses and officers.
Amid anxiety and unease over the shooting of Scott, demonstrations in Charlotte have gone from violent to peaceful, although demands to see video of the encounter remained at the forefront of discussions for those taking to the streets.
Many of the hundreds massed outside at the Charlotte police department building on Saturday afternoon chanted the name “Keith Scott.”
They also chanted, “No tapes, no peace” and raised signs including one reading “Stop Killing The Black People.”
Earlier in the week, the Charlotte protests turned violent, with demonstrators attacking reporters and others, setting fires and smashing windows of hotels, office buildings and restaurants.
Forty-four people were arrested after Wednesday’s protests, and one protester who was shot died at a hospital Thursday. City officials said police did not shoot 26-year-old Justin Carr. A suspect was arrested, but police provided few details.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
