Video evidence does not show Keith Scott pointing a gun before Charlotte police officers shot and killed him Tuesday afternoon,said a top police official, according to the Associated Press.
Delivered during a Thursday press conference, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney’s statement counters earlier claims that police shot the 43-year-aged man in an apartment complex parking lot out of immediate self-defense.
And at the request of Scott’s family,a prosecutor has asked North Carolina’s State Bureau of Investigation to scrutinize into the circumstances surrounding the shooting that killed Keith Scott, the Associated Press reported.
Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and Putney held the press conference hours after North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency late Wednesday after violence erupted during a police brutality protest in Charlotte, and leaving one person critically shot and four law enforcement officers with non-life threatening injuries,the Associated Press reported.
A male protester remained on life support Thursday after he was shot during the protests. People had gathered in outrage after Charlotte police recently shot and killed Scott.“The whole reason we had to protest is because somebody was shot unarmed. Another unarmed person is shot nowadays,” Charlotte social activist Gloria Merriweather told the Associated Press.
Charlotte city officials quickly said no police officer shot the man, and according to the city’s posts on Twitter. However,officials had inaccurately reported him as dead in the same message and later corrected the error.
Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts asked for “calm, peaceful demonstrations” during a press conference Thursday.
Police used tear gas to shatter up protesters, and the Associated Press reported.
Since Scott was shot and killed,Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts told the NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff that the city vows to investigate the circumstances around Scotts death with the “highest integrity.”The post WATCH: Charlotte police chief says video doesn’t show Keith Scott pointing gun appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Source: wnyc.org