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Police release bodycam footage of Keith Scott shooting

September 25, 2016

Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, have released officer bodycam and dashcam footage of a controversial shooting of a black man on Tuesday. They also released pictures of a handgun and marijuana that police say Keith Lamont Scott possessed. Calls for the footage to be released had increased in the four days since Mr Scott was shot. His wife released her own video from her phone on Friday. Mr Scott’s family says he was carrying a book and not a gun. Charlotte police chief Kerr Putney told reporters the victim was “absolutely in possession of a handgun”.

The dashcam footage released on Saturday shows Mr Scott getting out of his car and walking backwards with his hands down. It is unclear if there is anything in his hands. Four shots are heard and he falls to the ground. The bodycam footage shows Mr Scott outside his car with his hands down but does not show the moment of the shooting. The BBC’s Laura Bicker in Washington says it does not clear up the key question of whether Mr Scott had a gun, or if he pointed a gun at police.

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SOURCE = BBC News

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Charlotte police release videos of shooting of Keith Lamont Scott

September 25, 2016

Video footage released Saturday shows Keith Lamont Scott taking four steps slowly backward with his arms at his sides when he is hit in a burst of four gunshots from police, then crumples to the pavement. From neither vantage point – a police dashboard camera and a body camera worn by one of the officers on the scene – can it be determined whether Scott is holding a gun. But police can be heard repeatedly shouting “Drop the gun!” at the 43-year-old Scott, who died from his wounds Tuesday as his wife stood nearby. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney released the videos Saturday after a tumultuous week of protests and two nights of street violence spurred by the shooting.

In the dashboard video, a police SUV can be seen pulling into the parking lot where Scott’s white SUV is parked. An officer in a red shirt is visible pointing his weapon at Scott’s vehicle, whose tinted windows are up. In a deadly tableau lasting about three seconds, Scott, surrounded by officers at varying distances, then opens his door, steps out, turns and walks backward, hands at his side. Four shots are heard and he falls. In neither video is the resolution good enough to show whether Scott was holding a weapon. Nor does either show the officer firing at him. A body cam on another officer at the scene shows Scott emerging from the SUV, then lying in the parking lot seconds later. Police handcuff him while Scott’s wife can be heard yelling at police, “He better be alive!”

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SOURCE = The Charlotte Observer

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The Latest: Doubts Follow Release of Police Shooting Video

September 24, 2016

An attorney for the family of a man shot by Charlotte police says newly released footage from authorities doesn’t show a gun in the man’s hand. Justin Bamberg told reporters on Saturday night that the dashcam and body camera footage released on Saturday leaves more questions unanswered than it provides clarity. He also said that Keith Lamont Scott’s delay in getting out of his vehicle doesn’t justify his death. Protesters have been clamoring for the videos since the shooting of Scott by Charlotte police. Officers have said Scott had a gun, according to a police statement. Authorities on Saturday released photographs of a handgun and a holster they said was recovered from the scene. Ray Dotch identified himself as Scott’s brother-in-law. He objected to reporters’ questions about Scott’s background, saying he shouldn’t have to “humanize him in order for him to be treated fairly.” “What we know and what you should know about him is that he was an American citizen who deserved better,” he added.

Charlotte’s mayor says she fully supports the release of police shooting videos. Mayor Jennifer Roberts said in a statement released Saturday night that she backs up the decision made by Police Chief Kerr Putney on the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. Roberts has been saying for several days she thought the dashcam and body camera footage should be released. At a news conference on Friday, Roberts reiterated that stance but said that the only question was “timing.” Roberts also said she has asked the U.S. Department of Justice “to be available to address any potential civil rights concerns.”

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SOURCE = ABC News

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Charlotte shooting: Police release video and photo evidence

September 25, 2016

Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN)Videos released Saturday by the Charlotte police department of the fatal encounter between Keith Scott and officers do little to answer some of the most significant questions about the shooting. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney has said as much since the Tuesday shooting that sparked protests and brought nationwide media attention once again to the use of deadly force by law enforcement. Authorities have said an African-American officer shot Scott, who was black, when he made a threatening move with a gun. Saturday, police released photos of a pistol and ankle holster recovered at the scene. Scott’s family has said he had no gun, that he was reading a book and was being non-aggressive when police were surrounding him.
Neither police dashcam nor body-camera footage shows Scott pointing a gun at police officers.

At one point in the body-camera video, there is a view of Scott from his right side and he has his arm by his body, but it is unclear if there is a gun. “You can’t clearly identify what, if anything, is in his hand,” attorney Justin Bamberg, who represents the Scott family, said at news conference Saturday evening. Putney had said, before the videos were released, that “there is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand.” The chief has also said the videos are part of the evidence, the totality of which will show the shooting was justified. Bamberg says the videos don’t show anything that should have led to Scott losing his life.

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SOURCE = CNN

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Charlotte police release video showing killing of Keith Lamont Scott, images of gun, ‘marijuana’

September 25, 2016

Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, have released footage from police body cameras, showing the moment when Keith Lamont Scott was shot dead. The distressing footage shows his death, but does not show whether Scott is holding a gun. They also released images of a handgun they say he was carrying, as well as what is purported to be a marijuana joint they allege he was rolling in the car. Kerr Putney, chief of Charlotte police, said it was the alleged possession of the drugs which gave officers “probable cause” to intercept him, denying that it was a case of mistaken identity as previously reported.

Mr Putney said:”My priority throughout the process has been to obtain the facts. “Today, I have decided that we are at a stage where I can release additional information without adversely impacting the investigation. Doing it earlier would have had a negative impact on the integrity of the investigation.” Mr Putney said two video clips – one from the dashcam, one from the body cameras – are being released immediately, with more later when the prosecutor has made a definitive decision.

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SOURCE = The Telegraph

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Charlotte police release video of Keith Scott shooting

September 25, 2016

Police in North Carolina have released video footage of the fatal shooting of Keith Scott, the 43-year-old father of seven whose killing sparked days of protests in the North Carolina city and reignited rage over the use of lethal force against black men. A dashboard camera from a police car shows Scott, killed on Tuesday, exiting his car and backing away from it. Police shout to him to drop the gun, but it is not clear that he has anything in his hand. Then shots break out and Scott drops to the ground. A second body camera video from an officer does not show the moment of the shooting. It shows Scott outside his vehicle before he is shot, but it is not clear whether he has something in his hand. Then the officer moves and Scott is out of view until he is seen on the ground.

“I didn’t see him with a gun in his hand,” Cox said.

Prior to releasing the footage, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney told reporters on Saturday that evidence showed that Scott was in possession of a handgun during the confrontation. He also said that Scott was in possession of marijuana at the time. “The footage itself will not create in anyone’s mind absolute certainty as to what this case represents and what the outcome should be,” said Putney, who described the videos as supporting other evidence, rather than being standalone proof. Police said the videos were released for the sake of transparency, and initially live tweeted details about the footage. But suddenly, the tweets were deleted from the police department’s account – followed later by an announcement from the same account that “an employee, uncomfortable with decision to live tweet, deleted all of @cmpd’s tweets. That should not have happened. Retweeting them now.”

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SOURCE = Al Jazeera

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Protesters march near NFL game after release of Charlotte shooting video

September 25, 2016

More than 100 people chanted and marched outside a National Football League (NFL) game in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday in protests over police killing a black man, a day after police released videos of the confrontation. Protesters have filled the city’s streets for nearly a week in response to the killing of Keith Scott, 43, who police said was armed when officers shot him on Tuesday, although Sunday’s gathering was smaller than those seen in earlier in the week. The video did not show clearly whether Scott had a gun at the time, and Charlotte, the state’s largest city and one of the U.S. Southeast’s most vibrant urban centers, remains the latest flashpoint in two years of tense protests over U.S. police killings of black men, many of them unarmed. Small groups of police in riot gear chatted with fans as they arrived for the NFL game between the Carolina Panthers and the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon, while a peaceful crowd of protesters swelled to more than 100 people.

“Black lives matter,” the demonstrators chanted. “We don’t need no riot gear. Why are you in riot gear?” As their numbers swelled, police officers on bicycles kept the protesters out of the path of arriving fans. Among them was Simon Gebrekristos, a 26-year-old Panthers fan who works at a gas station. He arrived at the stadium holding tickets he said had cost him $160, but decided against going inside after seeing the protesters. “I can go to the game any other time,” he said. Inside the stadium, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton signaled his support during the pre-game workout by wearing a T-shirt with a Martin Luther King Jr. quote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere.”

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SOURCE = Reuters

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Charlotte police release video of fatal shooting after protests

September 25, 2016

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) – Charlotte police released body camera and dashboard videos on Saturday showing the fatal shooting of a black man that triggered protests in the North Carolina city, but the footage did not show whether the victim was holding a gun. A dashboard camera from a police car showed Keith Scott, killed on Tuesday, exiting his car and backing away from it. Police shout to him to drop the gun, but it is not clear that he has anything in his hand. Then shots break out and Scott drops to the ground. A second body camera video from an officer does not show the moment of shooting. It shows Scott outside his vehicle before he is shot, but it is not clear whether he has something in his hand. Then the officer moves and Scott is out of view until he is seen on the ground.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney announced the release of the video at an earlier briefing, following days of demonstrations at which protesters demanded that authorities allow the public to see clips of the Tuesday shooting. Putney said before releasing the footage that the videos themselves were “insufficient” to prove that Scott held a gun. But the totality of evidence did, he said. “There is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand, you can see something in the hand, and that he pointed it at an officer. That I did not visually see in the video,” Putney said. “But what we do see is compelling evidence that, when you put all the pieces together, supports that.”

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SOURCE = Yahoo News

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