Charlotte to release body and dash camera video of shooting

National Guardsman stand on the street in downtown Charlotte, N.C. on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016.

“The protesters chanted Keith Scott’s name”, de la Canal reports, “and they called for the defunding of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and an independent investigation into the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department by the Department of Justice”.

The videos are of a sensitive nature and maybe disturbing to some.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Chief Kerr Putney released videos Saturday of the deadly encounter between a CMPD officer and Keith Scott.

The video was released to the media at 6:30 p.m. He also said Mr Scott was in possession of marijuana at the time.

Police also released pictures including one of a handgun it says was recovered at the scene and an ankle holster police say Scott was wearing.

In addition to offering the explanation for the delay of the videos’ release, the police chief earlier added that the videos from the department offer no clarity regarding what happened during that specific and crucial point of the incident.

“There was a crime that he had committed that caused the encounter, and then the gun exacerbated that situation”, Chief Putney said.

When officers “see the weapon, and they see the marijuana, they say, ‘oh-oh, this is a safety issue for us and the public, ‘” Putney said. On Saturday, he said that after speaking with state investigators he concluded the video could now be released without “adversely impacting” the investigation.

Putney said the videos to be released Saturday, from a dash camera and a body camera, will show “no definitive visual evidence” that Scott had a gun. Since Scott was fatally shot, authorities in Charlotte have come under fire from demonstrators and activists for not releasing the video of the fatal shooting. “He’s not going to do anything to you guys”. He said he supports transparency in the case, “but I never said full transparency”.

Charlotte is the latest United States city to be shaken by protests and recriminations over the death of a black man at the hands of police, a list that includes Baltimore, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York and Ferguson, Missouri.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory welcomed the release, saying he had been assured that it would have no impact on the investigation. Residents have said he was unarmed. An internal investigation is still ongoing.

Police were at the condominium complex where Scott was sitting in his auto to serve a warrant on someone else. “When I look at the dashcam footage I don’t see anything there, in my opinion, that would lead to him losing his life”, Bamberg said. “They saw him with it, until a gun was produced”. Ideally, this footage would have shown which version of events – whether Scott was exiting his vehicle while holding a gun as the CMPD states or sitting in his auto and reading a book as his relatives have stated – is true. Officers then departed the immediate area to outfit themselves with marked vets and equipment that would identify them as police.

The narrative says Scott didn’t respond to repeated commands to drop his weapon. The uniformed officer utilized his baton to attempt to breach the front passenger window in an effort to arrest Mr. Scott.

As officers warn civilians to “back up” from the scene, Mr Scott can be heard groaning.

Scott was shot by officer Brentley Vinson, who has been placed on paid administrative leave. The family video, shot by Scott’s wife, was also inconclusive on the question of a gun.

The statement added that the gun was “loaded” and was found to contain Scott’s DNA and fingerprints.

Audio in the body camera footage can’t be heard until after Scott is on the ground.

Meanwhile, a second witness video of the incident made the rounds on Saturday, appearing to show officers cuffing Scott after they shot him.

Forty-four people were arrested after Wednesday’s protests, and one protester, Justin Carr, 26, who was shot died at a hospital on Thursday.