Skip to main content

Pressure Mounts for Charlotte PD to Release More Video of Fatal Shooting

Share This article

The mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, has lifted a curfew after days of violent protests. The city is struggling to resume normal life after the police shooting death of a black man a week ago.

Now pressure is mounting on law enforcement to release more video evidence of the incident.

Meanwhile, even with the curfew lifted, the prayers and protests still continue in Charlotte. On Sunday, demonstrators and police peacefully faced off before a Panthers-Vikings game at the Bank of America Stadium.

"Yes, we support our team, but we support our lives as well," one protester said.

After days of intense public pressure, police released two videos showing the deadly confrontation between 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott and Charlotte police officers.

The dashcam video shows Scott getting out of his car, slowly taking steps backwards with his hands at his side. Then four shots are fired.

"We got shots fired, one suspect down!" an officer can be heard saying over the police radio.

Meanwhile, a body camera video shows a different angle: a police officer tries to break Scott's passenger window with his baton. When that fails, he comes around the vehicle, at which point Scott is visible for a brief second.

Moments later, the father of seven is lying on the ground. Police then rush to him, guns drawn.

"Gun in his hand, gun in his hand!" one officer exclaims.

Despite the footage, questions remain about whether Scott had a weapon.

"There's no single piece of evidence that proves all the complexities involved in this investigative process," Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said.

Scott's family insists he didn't have a gun and was in the car just reading a book.

"It does not make sense to us how it was possible that this incident resulted in the loss of life," Scott's brother, Ray Dotch, said.

Neither video shows Scott pointing a gun at officers.

"What I see on the video is the failure of the police to use all the resources that they had at their disposal to avoid killing Keith," John Matthews, executive director of the Community Safety Institute (CSI), said.

Police also released an image of a loaded gun that they say had Scott's blood and fingerprints, along with an ankle holster reportedly recovered at the scene.

But neither the pictures nor the videos have done much to stop the protests. Now pressure is growing on Charlotte police to release the rest of the dashcam and body camera videos of Scott's shooting.

"There are too many other pieces out there and we need a complete puzzle," one demonstrator said.

Share This article

About The Author

George Thomas Headshot
George
Thomas

Born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and of Indian descent, CBN News’ Senior International Correspondent and Co-Anchor, George Thomas, has been traveling the globe for more than 20 years, finding the stories of people, conflicts, and issues that must be told. He has reported from more than 100 countries and has had a front-row seat to numerous global events of our day. George’s stories of faith, struggle, and hope combine the expertise of a seasoned journalist with the inspiration of a deep calling to tell the stories of the people behind the news. “I’ve always liked discovering & exploring new