Prosecutor clears officer in man’s death, says man was armed

A prosecutor in Charlotte has announced that he will not charge a police officer who shot a black civilian as he was waiting near his vehicle September 20. An autopsy report from Mecklenburg County authorities says Scott died of gunshot wounds to the back and abdomen.

Scott family attorneys said they’ll begin to pour over the evidence uncovered by police and the State Bureau of Investigation.

It’s unfortunate that Mr. Scott, a convicted violent felon with a head injury, felt compelled to illegally arm himself and then illegally abuse drugs in public in view of police officers. “My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Keith Lamont Scott, and I pray we give them the time and privacy to process today’s decision”.

Audio clip: Listen to audio clip.

Scott’s family called for calm on Wednesday, urging locals to “work together to fix the system” that caused his death.

“Protesters mostly peaceful tonight”. Murray said Scott was armed when he was shot by Vinson and said rumors that he was holding a book were untrue.

CMPD said on Twitter that the four people arrested were charged with obstructing traffic.

While police brutality does disproportionately affect black Americans, there is no reason to believe black police officers are immune to the systemic problems of American policing.

Dozens of people were arrested, and a man was fatally shot amid the chaos.

“The bulge you can see here is consistent with a holster and gun that was later described by officers and located at the scene”, Murray said. “Each one had a full count. of ammunition with the exception of Officer Vinson, who was four rounds short”.

Murray said there was no evidence that Scott raised the weapon, but he said that officers are put in real danger when a suspect has a gun in his hand. “Digest the report. Please do not act viscerally on news snippets”, Murray said.

Murray also says that Scott’s DNA was found on the slide and grip of a handgun recovered from the scene.

Community activists across the nation have rallied behind the Scott family, adding the case to a long list of alleged police brutality incidents.

If Scott in fact had a gun in his hands when he fell, it would have either fallen to the ground and been where it fell when the first officers approached the dying man’s body.

Scott, 43, was pronounced dead at Carolinas Medical Center.

Murray also debunked comments from several witnesses and Rakeyia Scott to reporters that said either Keith Scott didn’t have a gun or was shot by more than one officer.

“We recognize that for some members of our community, this news will be met with different reactions”, the city of Charlotte said in a statement Wednesday.

In that video, a man repeatedly yells for someone – apparently Scott – to “drop the gun”.