Updated 7 p.m.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Police have released dashboard and body camera videos and other evidence from last Tuesday’s shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. Chief Kerr Putney told reporters Saturday afternoon he determined that releasing the videos now won’t hurt investigations of the incident by CMPD and the State Bureau of Investigation.
https://youtu.be/govpCqvXm8A
https://youtu.be/kRL5cPgsj3M
Here's the press release from CMPD, including video and photos from the scene.
Putney said it’s a complex case, and a tragic loss of life.
“What I can tell you is there’s no single piece of evidence that provides all the complexities involved in this investigative process relative to this case,” he said. He said the video doesn’t show Scott with a gun.
A few details emerged from the press conference, before the videos were released:
- Putney also said he has no plans to charge any officers, including the one who fired the shots, Brentley Vinson. Vinson was not wearing a body cam, Putney said.
- Police went to the apartment complex off Old Concord Road in northeast Charlotte to serve a warrant on another person. Officers approached Scott because they observed "a crime" - he had marijuana. The incident escalated, Putney said, when Scott emerged with a gun.
- Putney said again, as he has before, that the videos don't show definitively that he had a gun.
- Putney said he released the videos because it was appropriate to do so now and because the community has been pushing for release. He said he was acting in accordance with department policy.
WFAE's Lisa Worf and Sarah Delia discuss what the videos show and don't show here:7 p.m. segment on Sept. 24 in which Lisa Worf and Sarah Delia discuss police shooting videos of Keith Scott.
5 p.m. Update
WFAE’s Nick de la Canal has been following the latest developments, including a protest downtown Saturday afternoon. Listen to his interview with NPR's All Things Considered.
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